“The only thing I like better than talking about food is eating food.”
It’s week 7 into UK Lockdown and the question of ‘what do you want for dinner?’ or ‘what do you fancy for lunch?’ has started to open up such day-dreaming visions of mouth-watering, extra scrumptious and colourful foods that when anyone asks me ‘what is the first thing you’re going to do when Lockdown lifts?’ I am (without thinking) answering ‘get dressed up and go to a restaurant and eat something bursting with flavours!’ And it is as simple as that.
That moment, which I am sure you have experienced too, of starving yourself all day in preparation of going to a lush restaurant for dinner. And then you get seated at the table in the restaurant and you all rush your ‘hellos’ and ‘how you been’ lurk to then quickly fit in ‘Okey shall we look at the menu and order first and then talk?’ Then having meaningless conversation because you’re too busy trying to get the waiters attention while feeling the need to tell everyone on your table how the waiters are just not paying any attention to you. Finally you’ve all ordered your food and feel that excitement growing whilst putting all that exciting into the conversation with each other, but not to forget that the one who will be sitting there with nothing to say because the hunger has just got the better of them (you know who you are!).
Then it’s the moment you’ve been waiting for, the moment you see the waiter walking towards your table with plates full of food and suddenly everything turns into slow motion… the waiter calls out the food name and you jump putting your hand up and shout ‘that’s mine!’ to then find all your questions of ‘I wonder what it looks like’ or ‘I’ve never had anything like this so I hope I like it’ all slowly getting answered whilst your wide opened eyes scan the food on that plate that your stomach really doesn’t care what it looks like because it just wants food!
And that’s the moment that Lockdown has got me wanting. The foods that I have realised I have craved the most during Lockdown has mostly been Indian street-food (maybe because of it’s colourful appearance and bold flavours plus the exciting that it gives being a cultural food that I have grown up with); so, I thought why not prepare a list of the foods that I know once the restaurant doors start to open up again I will be ordering straight away to fulfill these Lockdown cravings.
1. Pani Puri (known as Golgappa) - a signature street-food dish for India; you will find a Golgappa stall everywhere in the buzzing markets at any part of India you visit. Golgappa are round fried puri shells that are filled with flavoured potatoes, chickpeas, onion, chaat masala and topped with a famous Golgappa flavoured water. The trick is to eat one Golgappa in one go!
2. Bhel Puri - a savoury snack which is similar to a dish called 'Chaat' with the puffy rice and the crunchy chickpea noodles mixed with yogurt, chutneys and coriander.
3. Mogo Chips - a crispy and tasty east African snack, which are very similar to chips but a lot more chunky and usually served with seasoning and a hint of lemon on top, alongside chutney to add some extra flavouring.
4. Allo Tikki - a crispy and spicy potato patty bursting full of flavours served with either Masala chickpeas or chutney and yogurt.
5. Chilli Paneer - a delicious indo-Chinese dish of paneer, known as cheese battered in cornflower and stir fried into onions, peppers and spices and flavours.
6. Masala Dosa - a South-Indian delicious dish that consists of crispy flavoured pancake filled with Masala Dosa (and many other fillings available) filling; a classic filling and the one that I usually go for is the spiced Masala potato filling served with Dhaal and coconut chutney.
7. Pav Bhaji - this dish is one that I haven’t actually tried before but I have heard a lot about it so I want to try this out. From the sounds of the dish, it is based of a thick vegetable Masala and served with a soft bread roll.
8. Chinese Bhel Noodles - another indo-Chinese dish giving that fusion of flavours to the dish of flavoured, steamy and delicious Noodles.
9. Masala Fries - the mouth-watering simple dish of chips but with an amazing uplift of flavours, spices and chutneys.
10. Jalebi - a sweet-tooth pleasing dish; along with the spicy, tangy flavours I have been craving the sweet and crunchy warm jalebi's!
And those are my desired dishes ready to be ordered once the restaurant doors open. I would have had Paneer Tikka and Veggie Pakoras on my list but I experimented whilst in Lockdown and made these two dishes for the first time, and they both turned out pretty well. Hopefully your taste buds are wanting to explore at least one of my dishes from the list above to try out at a restaurant or even maybe experiment making at home?
For those who would like to try out any of the above dishes, I have made note below of some restaurant recommendations that you most probably will find these dishes at:
- Chai Thali (London, UK)
- Roti Chai (London, UK)
- Dishoom (London, UK)
- Masala Zone (London, UK)
- Cinnamon Bazaar (London, UK)
- Scarlet Rasoi (02 London, UK)
- Tamatanga (Leicester, UK)
- Mowgli (Birmingham, UK)
This was taken at the restaurant Tamatanga in Leicester!