Rosa's Cafe Wolverhampton - Birthplace Of the Masala Bubble Waffle [@NLi10]

 When we want a smaller meal after work there are a couple of cafe's we can go to  - including Rosa's Cafe

My friend had the chicken masala bubble waffle, and I had Chaat with Batura.

Both were great, but we've not seen masala bubble waffles anywhere else so we have to keep coming back for those at least!

As a bonus - here's a rhubarb crème Brulé that I had in a gastro pub called The Angel in Pershore.  This was also home made and amazing.

Taste Tibet - Hay Book Festival [@NLi10] @TasteTibet

 I'm not really into Food TV, which is probably surprising as I spend so much time thinking and writing about it.  My partner watches Bake Off and that's about it.  Taste Tibet had all the 'featured on the food shows!' signs, but more importantly I'd never had Tibetan food (despite formerly owning a Tibetan Terrier).

We spotted this stand - went to our two talks - then came back in the break.

The menu is deep and exciting, contains momo buns and branded merchandise with Chai Tea in - and there is an option to basically have it all for £22.50 which in hindsight is a little expensive I guess.  But it's a day out so I went for it.

New Work Mug Unlocked!

The Chai was great - if not a little small to share as was the plan

The Momo is a beef dumpling thing and absolutely amazing.  For £2.50 this transformed the meal and added so much texture and depth.

I could have gone back for more of these - except the curry was rich, meaty and incredibly filling.  It was not as spicy as I'd have guessed - but with the dahl built in had a great warming effect.  I did not require pudding from the pudding stalls at all.  I couldn't even fit another Momo after our final talk.

Totally worth the extra to have something truly special, and I can be proud to show off the camping mug and wonder if I'll bump into these at future food shows too.

It was a bit damp so we didn't use the more traditional outside food section apart from for photos.

Sainsbury's Butter Chicken Curry Pie [@NLi10]

Britain loves curry, Britain loves pies - so we have curry pies! Balti pies were all the rage a while back, but other than the 'sauce' pie I'd not seen many other variations

Butter chicken is one of my go-to options.  It's not as spicy as many others, and is a lot harder to do badly than the Korma.  Also if you are in a good restaurant they will call it makhani instead and you know it's going to be a good one and not just "curry for people scared of curry"

Looks decent enough with a lovely puff top

And the insides certainly smell legit - Luna here is confused because if I have this from the takeaway I'd get naan which is one of her favourite things in the world.

The chicken is decent sized chunks, and the sauce is as thick and rich as you'd expect.  A perfect, milder option for the curry pie then - with potential to add some of my chilli salt from the grinder to take it to the next level.

I'll certainly aim to have this one again, but when we are surrounded by ace curry houses it seems rude not to pop out to those too.

 

Proper Chips - Katsu Curry Chickpea Chips [@NLi10]

Proper chips isn't as classy a name as Proper Corn (best variety here) and the branding change confused me at first and I thought these were linked to Pop Chips - but once I'd figured it all out I had to try these.

The ideas here are twofold - the original plant bit is high quality, and the flavours are adult and interesting.

97 kCal per serve is a bit mean here as the bag supposedly contains 5 20g servings - which means most people will eat 2.5 servings and not really notice.

Approx. 4 servings is also funny as 20g gives the 97 Kcal on the front - no wonder we are all failing our maths GCSEs!

Good ingredients and positive mission though.

And they look the part, smell the part & taste great.

And while they aren't that filling so I easily had half the bag as an afternoon snack, they are really nice and a great alternative to potato crisps or pop-corn.

Bonus points too for a) deciding to do a Katsu Curry (or chip shop curry) version - and b) getting it to taste like it's supposed to.  

I'd happily take a bag of these to the cinema to share and be nicely set up for a meal afterwards to discuss the film.

Chicken Tikka Masala and Pickled Red Onion Pizza (M&S) By @cinabar

I don’t buy a lot of groceries in M&S, but occasionally I pick up something that catches my eye. Tonight was all about having pizza, and there was one I hadn’t seen before. I know the shop is posh, but this Chicken Tikka Masala and Pickled Red Onion Pizza looked next level. There is even a mango sauce drizzle.

I opened up the box and took out the sachet of sauce, which is said to drizzle on cold at the end. I put the pizza in the oven, and I could smell the spices while it cooked. Once it was out, it looked lovely. There was plenty of chicken, red onions, and cheese too. I added the sauce and gave the pizza a try. 

The base is good; it is fluffy and crispy, which is a nice texture. The topping is so good. The chicken is moist, and the spices are perfect. The curry taste is very aromatic; it isn’t too hot in terms of chilli; it is just full of flavour. The mango sauce adds a nice bit of sweetness, and this pizza was a proper delight. I might not buy a lot of food from M&S, but I do have to say it is worth popping in for a nice treat sometimes. 

Heinz Beanz Curry Edition (Ocado) By @Cinabar

Recently, Heinz has treated us to a wonderful new product, the Heinz Beanz Cheesy Cathedral City Edition. This wonderful can of beans had the grated cheese pre-mixed in for the ultimate lazy cheese and beans combination. I loved them; they are so quick to heat and add to a jacket potato, which makes a great meal. The cheese was plentiful and had such a nice taste. 

The next new variety to hit the shelves is this Heinz Beanz Curry edition. I bought a can and waited for my jacket potato to cook in the oven. The contents warmed quickly in a pan; they smelled nice, and I poured them over the potato. I love this kind of food. 

The beans are nice, but they didn’t wow me. The tomato-based sauce is there, and the beans have the usual nice texture. The curry element is mild and has a slightly sour, spicy taste. It reminded me of a curry dip flavour rather than a proper curry taste. I think I was expecting more of a softer, warming taste like a proper curry sauce, and although the taste was pleasant, I wouldn’t run out for another can. I may have also been spoiled by the Heinz Beanz Cheesy Cathedral City Edition, which was absolutely yummy, and these Heinz Beanz Curry Edition were just nice.

SPAM - Chip Shop Curry Fritters - Iceland [@NLi10]

 Iceland have some good weird food - I reviewed the original SPAM fritters what seems like ages ago, and recently (when I got the Lewis Capaldi Pizzas) I spotted this variation.

Mostly this just makes me worry about store-bought chicken Kiev - but it's a neat idea - put a spicy sauce in the middle of the spam and make it more like a meal!

Thing is - these are basically nuggets.  Two in a box and they aren't that big.

See - mini sausage rolls for scale  (and not because I'm greedy)

And here is the finished product - not quite as runny as the pictures on the box, but I think that the 2nd one was a bit gloopier so maybe I needed the oven on for a bit longer - but it's a heatwave so I stuck to the timings.

And?  They are decent. Filling for the size (but I really needed 2), but did want a few veggies and carbs adding to make it a meal.  The flavour is the usual salty spam luncheon meat, and the chip shop curry is the English Katsu it's always been.

A decent variation on the classic then, a bit more pricey than the plain ones but on special offer its a nice change.  Would be improved by adding chip shop chips as well though!

Tiny Tempeh Pieces (Curry Flavoured) and spicy Piri Piri grains (@NLi10)

We love a good evening of vegan food in this house - so my partner picked up a box of Tempeh and I added a sachet of grain!

These are pre-flavoured and essentially ready-to-eat once heated for palatableness.

 

And they already look quite awesome - even in the box!

I forgot to take a picture of the grain before I ripped and heated it.

This one is basically barley and is really nice.

It smells so great and I loved it.

Unfortunately I forgot to take the plate picture again (argh) but I do remember that the tempeh was a really good texture - different to the tofu we usually have and a little tougher.  The curry flavour was reasonably authentic too.  The spicy grain went surprisingly well - it's so filling and great.  I need to remember to stock up on these bags when they are on special offer again.

Muji Butter Chicken Curry (@NLi10)

I didn't know Muji sold snacks until I got bought a load - and they also sell meals!

Sale food too! Even though this is space sealed the pandemic has meant there isn't much time left to eat this - so lets go!

 

Butter Chicken/ Mughlai Chicken doesn't look like much right out the bag.

It looks a little more like food once you heat it up.

And here it is - a pound gets you one person portion - and while the flavour is correct it's not quite as deep as the cook at home kits or a trip to The Shireland.

I'd try that at full price for sure, and I wonder if there are more flavours for this.

Needs rice, but makes a perfectly good lunch then.

Meals For All - Freshly Cooked Authentic Food #Gifted By @Cinabar

Happy Good Friday everyone, I hope you have been able to enjoy some of the nice weather this bank holiday. We were threatened with snow but have so far had lovely sunshine, but it is Britain so anything is possible yet this Easter weekend! We are having a curry tonight though and it was very kindly sent for us to try from the lovely people at Meals For All. They make and delivery restaurant quality food which you can heat and eat straight away or freeze for another day. They are delivered chilled. When you order from them for every meal purchased they donate a meal to the needy, which is such a wonderful way of working. They started because of Covid19 but I hope they go on to flourish long into the future.

We chose a selection of curries, rice and some onion bhaji and some naan. My choice to start us off was the Prawn Bhuna Curry which I had with yellow rice. To heat the dish you simply zap the curry in the microwave for 4 minutes so it is very quick and simple. The curry was a very good quality. The prawns were still moist and juicy and they took on all the lovely rich spices. There was a nice bit of heat and the tomato based curry was restaurant standard, by the end of the meal I was using the naan bread to mop up every last drop of the spicy sauce. The onion bhaji was lovely too, full of flavour. I like that the website lists all the ingredients of the dishes too and I can’t wait to try more from them. This made such a nice Friday night treat and it is from such a wonderfully ethical brand too. I was lucky enough to be gifted my first order but can’t wait to choose some more dishes for the future and the freezer. If you want to try them out, please take a look at: https://mealsforallshop.org.uk

Holy Cow! Mughlai Korma Kit (@NLi10)

 Not a very exciting one this week, no fools theme here, but look at this fab Curry Kit I picked up.  Decent restaurant Curries is one of the things I've missed food-wise during lockdown.  

Very luxury, very ethical, very exciting!

Lots of ideas in here - we made it with sweet potato and veggies.

It dried it out a little maybe, but it was a great creamy curry which was full of flavour and something I'll buy again.  For my tastes I'd sprinkle some finely chopped chilli on top for that little bit of a zing, but I can understand why they'd not put that in the sauce bag for everyone on the mildest version.

Naked Japanese Style Katsu Curry Long Grain Rice (@NLi10)

Naked do lots of great instant snacks for when I need a quick and decent sized lunch.  I'm just not used to them not being noodles.  This looks like a noodle pot, but it's a (BIG) rice pot.  So what's inside?

 Wet rice of course!  Smells fantastic - not quite perfect Katsu, but you aren't going to get a rich gravy just by pouring a kettle into a (reduced) plastic tub.

It does make up nicely though - I expected it to not quite work, but the rice was fluffy but still had bite, and the sauce was sticky enough that I could eat it with a fork like a heathen.

It's also fairly clear what's in it from the ingredients - a little curry and a little garlic - and a whole lot of great rice.  It filled me up for the day quite nicely and while relatively unexciting is definitely something I'd pick up again for the emergency cupboard.

Tasty Bite - Tikka Masala Chunky Vegetable Curry - in 60 seconds! (@NLi10)

It's another lock-down dinner - what could possibly liven up this Quorn and home-grown courgette?

Why, this lunch sized curry pouch of course!

Tasty Bite Tikka Masala Chunky Vegetable Curry is essentially a whole lunch in itself, but with the super absorbent Quorn I figured I'd try mixing it all together for variety.

Originally I'd saved this to do their wrap suggestion with left over meal kit wraps, but I kept finishing them all - Quorn it is!

Bag curry has a very distinctive look...

Cooks up OK though

And serves well too - the little potato squares went really well, and although it's not as spicy as I'd usually go it worked really well as a nice summer evening dish.  Using lunch pouches as a chunky sauce with most of the ingredients already in was a success.  Shall have to try this again!

Our Free NHS Uber Eats & a cheap Lidl beer (@NLi10)

We managed to snag one of the 2nd batch of NHS uber eats codes and ordered from a local place (Red Oven, Bearwood) that we don't tend to visit (one of our favourite places is about 100m away). I had a Chicken Tikka Chilli Pudhina Masala - it was far too hot (but I'd have it again). 

To cool down the spice I decided to go with a beer that my Mom donated to me - one of the cheap but stylish ones that Lidl have put out - Galereux.

I'm not sure what makes a Larger Premium, but its won awards online so it can't be that bad - right?!

You can practically feel the heat of this dinner!  Essentially using the NHS code got one of the two dinners free.  As I paid I can pretend I bought my partners and got mine free.  Pretty generous - thanks!!

The flavours were a mix of indian spice and chilli on top, giving it a very 'English' Curry feel, but with the fresh ingredients the flavour was wonderfully deep.  The beer didn't quite do the magic trick (if you manage to pair them up perfectly both curry and beer are transformed magically), I don't think this larger was designed for that.  But - it did reduce the heat enough to make it to the end (but not enough to eat all the sauce).

It's not a beer I'd want solo - it's far too much of a football larger - all aftertaste and no body - but it did the job here.

I'm virtually out of things to review in the house now so I might have to venture out on my government appointed exercise walk...

Chicken Katsu Sando (Marks and Spencer) By @Cinabar

I went into Marks and Spencer to pick up a packaged sandwich and I saw a man dithering by the counter. He was looking at the Vindaloo sandwich Marks’s has brought out and wasalmost wanting to but it. There was a warning in the background stating “is this the hottest sandwich in the world?” And he couldn’t deiced if he wanted to go there. I mention this because I was in the same place, the novelty of a super hot sandwich is exciting, not being able to eat my own lunch less so. Marks and Spencer have brought out a new range of ‘street food’ inspired sandwiches and this ultra hot vindaloo one was in that range. I know my limits so picked up this rather lovely sounding Chicken Katsu Sando, also in the range, the other man eventually did the same. I know I can’t handle too much heat, but I may pick up the Vindaloo edition for an unsuspecting Spectre at some point…
Anyway my Chicken Katsu Sando sounded much more my thing. Chicken Katsu curry is a Japanese dish usually consisting of chicken in breadcrumbs with a mild curry sauce poured over the top. It is my favourite dish in Wagamamas if you are looking to try it.

I had a peek inside my sandwich before tucking in and it was very green. The sandwich has in it a green cabbage coleslaw that was dominating the colour, but the chicken looked pleasingly meaty underneath. I gave it a try and thoroughly enjoyed the taste and texture. The chicken shone through, as did the creamy curry sauce and the texture from the slaw was spot on. The texture was satisfying to munch on and the creamy curry taste was perfect for a sandwich. Seriously I’ll be buying this sandwich again very happily. It is a nice mix of new flavours, and I hope their other ‘street food’ range of sandwiches are as good. I’m happy I chose the right sandwich for me. However if you have been brave enough to try the new Marks and Spencer Vindaloo sandwich do let me know how you got on? I might work up the courage of somebody tells me it isn’t too hot…