Having survived the hottest day of the year, what do you do? Go for a curry of course.
3 of Norwich’s curry houses are in the National Curry finals, so we had to visit one of them. Dhaba 15 is located in the old Nazma restaurant, there is a clean, relaxed look to this new Indian Street Food restaurant. A welcome that was friendly with all the staff smiling rubs off on you as you walk in.
We had not booked but a small table was found, thankfully next to the aircon.
The restaurant is unlicensed yet the range of drinks is not held back, with different Lassi’ and Mocktails available.
The menu had such a different range, including traditional English curries we were spoilt for choice. Selecting Poppadums’, a Chellinad beef curry, Bengal Roshon and a mushroom garlic bhajia.
The first delicious surprise was that the chutney’s arriving with the poppadum’s were fresh and different. I am so use to mango chutney from a jar I never bother, but this was homemade with delicate whole spicing lifting the sweet mango. Next to this was a mint and coconut, which I fought my husband for the last bit of. His favourite was the carrot, onion and garlic with a hint of spice.
Moving on to the mains, the Roshon had a background of gently roasted garlic, with perfectly balanced warmth. While the Chellinad had some heat, tempered by the coconut and this allowed the floral notes of fresh curry leaves to come through. The mushrooms in the Bhajia were fresh with a little bite still in them, small bits of pepper lifted the garlic.
I can honestly say that it has been a while since I have had such a well-cooked curry. All the dishes, were fresh, meat soft, spice balanced, each dish tasting different and presented well. I am sure they will be winning more awards.
Todays tipples is more about being upset with a couple of pubs (no names will be mentioned). In this heat beer can suffer, recently a friend on a Cask Marque visit found a beer served at 27°! It should be a max of 12°-14°.
There are many faults a beer can have that are not always the fault of the brewer, a lot comes from storage and service. In general, all beer lines should be cleaned a min of every 7 days (even if they have a keg of beer on. Cask beer is more delicate, once tapped its life starts to head down wards after 3 days, depending on the cellar and the beer it can go a couple of days longer, but never a week.
So a landlord telling me that his beer was “very fresh as it had only been on for about 7 days.” results in me turning around and never going back.
How do you know your beer is on the turn? (quick guide)
If you can smell / taste, wet cardboard, paper, musty or dust it is Oxidised (exposed to air).
Malt Vinegar and / or butter will hint at an infection.
If your beer smells / tastes of Balsamic vinegar, yoghurt or wet hay, check you are not drinking a; Sour/Barrel aged/Old/kettle sour as these are expected in these styles.
If you want to learn more about beer, look out for free taste training for CAMRA members or try one of the courses about beer that are now available from Norfolk Wine School & The Beer and Cider Academy.
