FOOD & DRINK

Chicken burgers with raspberryhoney sauce

COOK’S TIP

For a quick dessert, blend the remaining raspberries with a little icing sugar and lemon juice. Serve over vanilla ice cream and top with toasted flaked almonds.

INGREDIENTS

2 x 305g packs Southern Fried Breaded Chicken Mini Fillets 4 burger buns, split open 2 tbsp Greek strained yogurt 2 limes, juice ½ large pointed spring cabbage, shredded (about 175g prepared weight) 2 tbsp clear honey ½ tsp hot smoked paprika 150g No.1 Speciality Raspberries Sliced gherkins or pickled cucumbers, to serve

Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes Total time: 35 minutes Serves: 4

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. Cook the chicken according to pack instructions. Add the burger buns to the oven for the last 2 minutes of cooking. 2. Meanwhile, mix the yogurt and juice of 1 lime in a mixing bowl and toss through the cabbage and a pinch of salt; set aside. In a separate bowl, mix the honey, paprika and juice of the remaining lime. Add the raspberries and gently crush with the back of a fork. Stir together and set aside. 3. When the chicken and buns are cooked, arrange the bottom halves of the buns on a board. Spoon over most of the raspberryhoney sauce, then scatter over some of the sliced gherkins or pickled cucumbers. Arrange the chicken on top, then pile on the cabbage. Top with the burger lids and serve immediately with any remaining raspberry-honey sauce on the side.

The setting of Calcutta Brasserie is exquisite – situated in a stunningly beautiful Grade II Listed Chapel in the historic and picturesque town of Stony Stratford, the Indian Restaurant is home to, no doubt, one of the most beautifully adorned Indian restaurants in the country. As previous winners of the Best Asian Restaurant in Milton Keynes at the MK Food and Leisure Awards, finalists at the British Curry Awards and with a Head Chef named the second best Indian chef in the country, Calcutta Brasserie put a whole host of passion and detail into every dish, each from varying regions throughout India – a country we all know is rich with diverse ingredients, cooking-style and traditions – and packed-full of flavour.

Although the Brasserie is open for takeaway every day from 5pm-10pm, an ‘Indian takeaway’ it is not; there is no doubt that the dine-in experience is worth it for the beautiful surroundings. Although the Brasserie hosts a whole heap of offers (including an exceptionally well-priced Sunday Buffet, Express Business Lunch, and a Wine and Spice evening) I was invited to try a very unique experience there – ‘Dining in the Dark.’ I really was thrilled to go along – I’d heard about these events a few years ago, but I never had the chance to visit and try out this culinary adventure.

As I was lucky enough to trial some of the dishes on a regular evening at the restaurant, I would like to point out that the staff at Calcutta didn’t plunge the whole restaurant into darkness when we visited, as I’m not sure this would have been fair on their regular customers! For the event itself (priced incredibly reasonably at £24.95 a head) the stunning interior will be solely lit by candlelight – a pathway will guide diners along the walkways of the chapel and to their seats, with each table dimly lit by a single candle. Just as each guest will be, we were provided with blindfolds to give us the full ‘Dining in the Dark’ experience. After a few slightly confused looks from the other guests (understandably!) we prepared to don our eyewear and strapped in for the experience.

To begin, we opted for a bottle of a particularly delicious South African Sauvignon Blanc (£28.50) and tucked into the altogether familiar taste of crisp poppadums with various chutneys while we discussed what culinary delights were yet to come. The first thing we noted straightaway was the quality of the service – each staff member was friendly, professional and attentive and, very importantly, always on-hand to top-up our wine glasses! When the starters arrived, they were presented beautifully on a single plate. These consisted of: Lasooni Murgh Tikka – beautifully succulent chargrilled chicken tikka marinated in garlic yoghurt; Onion Garam Pakoda – Spanish onion strands fried in a spicy, crisp batter; one of my all-time favourite dishes, Gilafi Seekh Kebab – deliciously spiced minced lamb kebab, coated with herbs and peppers, and lastly the Chowk Ki Tikki, which was probably our favourite item from the plate. This was a dish neither of us had tried before at a South Asian restaurant – a crispy potato cake with ginger, fresh and mild green chillies and roasted cumin. We found that texture was one of the most important elements for us when tasting each dish blindfolded; we particularly favoured the crisp, fried starters – which happened to be the Vegetarian choices – over our usual preference for meat!

It is important to note that I had given the restaurant prior notice of my allergy, which I would highly recommend doing to give the chefs time to prepare alternatives. This meant they were able to adapt most of the menu to be without nuts and coconut and made it very hassle-free on the evening.

Now on to the mains – all served with pilau rice and plain naan – and what a selection we had. We were served four delicious curries with distinctly different flavours: Murgh Tikka Lababdar – chicken tikka pieces cooked in a satin-smooth tomato and onion gravy, rich with butter and cream; Kosha Mangsho – my favourite main dish of slow-cooked lamb with hot aromatic spices, caramelised onions and ginger; Dal Makhani – warming black lentils and kidney beans stewed with spices, butter and cream and, as a replacement for Cabbage Thoran (a savoy cabbage dish that contained coconut) Punjabi Gobi Matter – cauliflower and pea curry that was traditionally cooked and delicately spiced. The curries were brilliantly varied in flavour and texture and gave us a true taste of authentic Indian cuisine.

Unfortunately, both desserts on offer contained nuts and/or coconut and we weren’t able to try the Kulfi or Cheesecake but, in all honesty, I was far too full at this point to face it!

Both the regular and vegetarian menus for this event have been designed for guests to enjoy some Calcutta classics, alongside some dishes you may, perhaps, not have tried before. I would absolutely love to return and try the full vegetarian menu next time – especially as I know one of the main dishes contains paneer which is one of my all-time favourite Indian ingredients.

There is no doubt that eating blindfolded heightens your other senses – we were able to taste individual elements of dishes that would perhaps have otherwise gone unnoticed. For example, we found the sweet pop of the peas in the Gobi Matter and the fragrantly rich sauce in the Murgh Tikka Lababdar to be particularly noticeable when going in to taste blindly. We also noted afterwards that we hadn’t looked at our phones (apart from to take photos before tucking in) during the entirety of the meal – instead, we had taken the time to talk to each other about the complex flavours of each dish and really focus on where we were and what we were eating.

Something to note: I’d recommend going to this event with someone you know well as, if you’re really entering into the spirit of the evening as you should, you may have to feed your dinner guest – we worked this out a little late after I attempted to feed myself blindfolded and incidentally dropped a fair amount of food on to my lap, the floor and also on to the crisp, white tablecloth…

All in all, our time at Calcutta was incredibly memorable and I would highly recommend their ‘Dining in the Dark’ event, especially to couples and close friends. For such a special evening with an extremely generous amount of food, the price-point of £24.95 per person is incredibly reasonable. You must make sure not to miss out on their next event!

Dining In The Dark takes place in the beautiful setting of the Old Chapel, Stony Stratford

Dining in the Dark

The next 'Dining In The Dark' night takes place on Thursday May 26. To book your place visit our website or call the restaurant Calcutta Brasserie, 7 St Pauls Court, Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes, MK11 1LJ Tel: 01908 566577 www.calcuttabrasserie.co.uk