The Spice Club, Manchester

The Spice Club. Held in a distant corner of Manchester, is an underground supper club hosted by Monica in her beautiful home assisted by her lovely family.

This supper club, as you may have guessed, specialises in authentic home cooked Indian food and consists of a 3 course meal with coffee for £20 of which 10% goes to charity. Alcohol is not served but they have a BYOB policy.

We were warmly greeted and shown to the beautiful dining room after wandering the streets for a while trying to decide which door to knock on, fortunately the first one was the right one (ah the joys of underground restaurants and secret locations).

We met our fellow diners for the evening. It was quite a diverse bunch sat round the table with many professions present including teachers and teachers and erm...teachers, there was also a nurse and an estate agent with dreams of ice road trucking to stop most of the evening being spent discussing school.

First up, food wise was the appetiser. Jaipuri Stuffed Bread rolls. These were stuffed with potato and peas and flavoured with herbs and spices. These were delicious, light and tasty with a subtle blend of complimenting herbs and spices.

Next up was the mains and by mains I mean enough food to feed an army with leftovers. The entire centre of the table was filled with dishes and plates of delicious aromatic food, delivered with the simple instruction to tuck in, alongside a constant supply of basmati rice and chappatis. The dishes that we had the pleasure of eating were: 

Kashmiri Lamb Masala
Succulent lamb slow roasted in a rich masala sauce, seasoned with home-made Punjabi garam masala &
an array of fragrant spices
Shahi Chicken
Slow roasted chicken marinated in cream, blended with cashews, almonds & Punjabi spices.

Channa Masala
Chick peas cooked in fresh ginger, tomato & coriander

SaagAloo
Potatoes cooked in a spicy fresh spinach masala

Bhindi
Fresh okra stuffed with paneer seasoned with sea salt, paprika, turmeric & coriander
Raita
Cucumber & red onion mixed with yogurt,
flavoured with roasted cumin& sea salt

  

All the dishes squished onto one plate.

Dishes that I was particular impressed with were the Lamb dish and the okra dish. Having never been a fan of okra I can now safely say that I am a convert as long as it is cooked like this every time.

All the food just shone with authenticity that most Indian restaurants struggle to create. Delicious food with spice blends that have been perfected over many years, absolutely superb. Many thanks also for the chapatti masterclass I received, I was very surprised to see how simple they are to create and will be having a go at making my own in future.

Dessert was Gajr Halwa, a warm sweet Indian carrot pudding served with ice cream followed by Masala Coffee and a homemade cardamom shortbread biscuit, a lovely end to the meal.

Thanks again to Monica and her family for their excellent food and hospitality.

Book yourself in for a future date at : The Spice Club