The famous — and in the wrong hands infamous — vindaloo is as far removed from the paint-stripper and battery acid cuisine of a Saturday night in rainy Tottenham as you can get in this galaxy. Mercifully, Nidal has never even heard of Tottenham and his original authentic South Asian cuisine is about as good as it gets. And that is very good indeed.
With Chef Nidal is Chef In charge Daniel Cruz and the Jeddah Hilton’s team of Asian specialist chefs, Amio Sarkar and Subash Kanna. They have handpicked both their personal favorites and some of the most delicious dishes in their local cuisines to be featured in the festival.
For those who think curry is a slow-cook food, you are in for something of a surprise. The twin secrets of a quick curry are slow marinating and the use of whole spices. The result is that the chefs put the final dishes together in minutes with an insouciant ease and bags of style.
The team of contributing South Asian chefs — from India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand — produce in minutes from the very simple and locally available ingredients the most sublime curries with a subtle yet distinct fresh-made taste entirely missing from most restaurant curry. It is a sad fact, especially of western curry-kitchens that many use precooked meat heated in bottled commercial sauces and tout them as “authentic”, which is an insult to the incredibly rich tradition of Indian cuisine and a ‘human rights’ offence to the palate. There are no, repeat no commercial “cook-in” sauces here!
“This is the third year we have staged the festival and it’s back by popular demand,” said Chef Nidal. It has been extended from three days to eight in response to the tremendous interest shown last year. “We will take you on a journey of Asian Curry from India, Pakistan, Malaysia Singapore, Indonesia through Bangladesh Cambodia and on to Thailand. The wide variety of curries will be dishes made with crab, duck, lobster, quail, lamb and chicken and of course vegetables,” he explained
Some of the viands on offer are slow-cooked curries that have a flavor all of their own — try the Palak Gosht (spinach and lamb) or the south Asian Saraman (cardamon, ginger and beef). The particular magic of the Hilton team is to infuse what is for most diners an entirely new taste experience into their dishes. Fast and fresh is healthy, is an interesting slant on a traditional cuisine and it works.
For the final touch, it is mandatory (that’s my story and I stick to it!) to stock up with freshly made rotis and chutneys that tempt in colorful profusion and accompany the banquet. Once again at the curry festival, a flaming Tandoor (clay lined oven) sits in the Safina restaurant producing barbecued prawns, chicken and lamb chops to order.
Remembering 2011, Cruz’s lamb vindaloo was for me the star of the show — but only just. It is spicy and moderately hot and allows the background flavors to combine in a lingering meld of aromas and aftertastes that add a special richness to the sumptuously flavored tender lamb. Try it with a paratha and Sag Aloo where the ultra fresh herbs add a palate cleansing contrast to the fat of the lamb.
“We have radically restructured the menu for this year,” said Chef Nidal politely declining the invitation to share it. “It will include a good number of new taste experiences alongside some I haven’t finally decided on yet. It will, I guarantee, be worth it. Believe me!” he smiled.
Oh, I do, honest I do, I really do!
This is Asian culinary history on show and to sample the result, the curry buffet is available every night from May 1 through 8 between 7:30 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. at Al Safina restaurant in the Jeddah Hilton.
The beauty is that over the course of the festival, there will be different menus presented in rotation; decisions, decisions!
