CREAMY ORIGINAL CRISPY NAAN MEAL - KFC [@NLi10]

 We went to KFC again last week and BEHOLD a new menu item has appeared!  It's the same as normal but it's a naan instead of a bun.

For a very Asian area this is an interesting twist - will people be more likely to choose a familiar naan or just to go to an actual Asian shop and buy the real thing for half the price.

Because of the magic of the KFC app we won a burger and popcorn chicken and then swapped them.  I had the meal for the full experience, but I didn't need it with the bonus.  The fillet was later left out for the fox.

I decided to give the drinks another go - and had the strawberry cheesecake base which is red stuff (good), white stuff (not noticeable) and some crumb - which I thought went on the top - right at the bottom.  This meant that the last bit of the drink was almost undrinkable sludge.

At least it was only 50% ice instead of 75% ice this week.  Honestly - these drinks are a sham.  They take the meal up to £16 or so too which is insane.

Here is the naan.  Smart people will immediately notice that it is two naan - which is mad.  Why not just wrap it in one like everywhere else?  Maybe the heater is bun sized so mini-naan it is.

Inside has a not too spicy sauce, the usual boneless chicken, and lots of exciting veggies.  I immediately binned the cheese.  And honestly - if real masala chicken naan from Chaiiwalla scares you (or you just want to tempt a beginner to the dark side) then honestly it's fine.

I'll likely try the tandoori version in two weeks but with the loaded fries and the tea as the drink.  

Later on we went to Rosa's Cafe in Wolverhampton and I got a Karrak Coffee with actual blended Ice (like I'm convinced KFC is supposed to do) which was so much better and a pound cheaper than the KFC mess.  You can just about see the dosa wrap in the background which I had a bit of (fantastic) but I was still full from all the stodge at lunch.

Chaiiwala on the Road - Indian Streetfood Now In Service Stations?! [@NLi10]

 We have a Chaiiwala, it's at the top of the big hill by my house which prevents me from being a regular, but I have the app and I'm willing to make trips.  On the way back from Saltaire (pretty, near Bradford) we stopped at a fairly ordinary Roadchef services that's apparently at Sandbach.

It's always a disappointment to stop somewhere that doesn't have our favourite foods, or a farm shop.  So - imagine my glee when I see this little shed tacked on the outside.  So new that it's not on the google map, or the Chaiiwala app (no points!!) because it literally opened yesterday.  It's the second one in the country, apparently there is one at Watford Gap?

Being short on time and just wanting something small we had a samosa each - which is actually a first for me.  The wraps & bowls usually get all my attention.  At £1.75 a samosa it feels expensive if you are up Cape Hill, but at the motorway thats a steal.

Very crispy, kept warm in the heater thing.  No dip offered, but I'm very white so it wouldn't be expected that I'd know the wonders of the brown dip.

And it's fairly standard generous samosa inside.  Couldn't see the whole spices like the ones I like from the highstreet, but I could taste all the right things.  A few whole peas hiding at the bottom, good crust and big enough that you'd not want two unless it was a meal.

We had a car full of drinks and the father-in-law was paying so I didn't get us a round of karak chaii but maybe I should have just got a large one to share.

Overall - I'm not going to stop having the paratha wraps and the chaat bowls, but it's amazing to be able to get actual Indian streetfood at a dodgy services.  The plan is to roll these out UK wide, so I'm overjoyed.  Lots of similarly fanatical people to me were taking pictures to send to people who wouldn't believe that their choices are no longer Greggs or McD. 

Peperami Lunchbox Chicken Tikka Bites [@NLi10]

 The junk food place had lots of spare packages of these so I figured I'd give one a shot.

I think they come from a multipack

And they are designed for children's lunchboxes - which is surprising as I didn't think small kids liked chicken tikka, and I didn't think big kids...

...would appreciate the tiny portions!

I almost put some money in shot for scale here - but I figured that it's obvious enough.

These are spicy little chicken chunks, but no matter how small your small person is I think they'd need a sandwich or similar alongside them.  Maybe these are more to replace the crisps in the lunchbox.

Digbeth Day - Indian Street Food [@NLi10]

 There was a mini festival in Digbeth to encourage people to wander down from Birmingham town centre now that Birmingham council have moved most of the roadworks.  They haven't finished - but that's another story. 

As the shops down here were hit twice, by Covid and the traffic issues it's a great thing to see them being supported.  I went mostly to pop into Wayland's Forge and to see the street food.

I spotted this Indian street food place on the way past so knew I'd be fine, but was shocked to see there were 3 food stalls and one cocktail bar - and that they'd squeezed them in at the back of the carpark.  I know it's probably important to have an area for the vendors to park but it seemed a bit cramped and out of the way of the rest of the activities.

You do get a good view of the old custard factory from here, and as you can wander into Zellig and the Custard Factory courtyard I suspect most people won't have spotted this bit.  

The prices seemed a little on the high-side which didn't put me off, but then I'd just been given a free beer by the team at Bene Culture (t-shirt shop, art space, and general local arts venue) so was more than happy to pay £12 for Samosa Chaat and a sit in the sunshine.  The other stalls had similarly event pricing.

Both the beer and the crunchy Indian street food were amazing.   You got two fat samosa, lots of chickpeas, and the noodle and veg mix on top and the sauce beneath. The sauce had most of the heat, and the rest had the fragrant flavour - just how I like it.  And it was a good lunch-sized portion.  I've had food-festival portions before that left me wanting more - but this satisfied.  And the beer is one I'd want to have again - very light and summary.

Digbeth is still only half finished so I'm not surprised this was a smaller than expected thing. And Queens Heath Pride was the following day so a lot of people will have saved their cash and energy for that.

There were loads of stalls for people half my age to buy clothes, art and accessories and most seemed to be doing a good trade.  It's just a shame that the food area wasn't more of a focal point for the music and activities - especially as the weather was decent.

Opposite the event the buildings have gone, but nothing has come to replace them.  The delays to the road & tram here have removed all the interest until the new development between the two is finished.  Until then I guess Digbeth is it's own little village hiding just out of reach.

Bikaji Soya Sticks - Masala Munch {@NLi10]

 Crisps are great, 'Bombay' Mix is great - so why not just buy a whole bag of the one crispy bit from the mix that you fancy?  It is Ramadan after all.

This is Bikaji brand version- and Masala Munch sounds exactly like what I want.

Oil, tapioca starch & gram flour - and more importantly Ginger, Chili, Tumeric powder - instead of potatoes makes this a little different in texture to British crisps, and a welcome change.

You can still have them as a side with your sandwich too - and it adds a little spice to the proceedings.   Lovely and crunchy, and just spicy enough to get your attention but not so much that you need a drink alongside.  I do plan to eat lots of these with a beer (maybe during today's Wrestlemania) but they are more of a snack.

As I'd taken this to Nanna's I also got an ace slice of home made cake with Damson jam - but made by her gardener!  Puddings at lunch time is always a welcome luxury.

A Dishoom Indian Christmas [@NLi10]

A few days into December we popped to Dishoom. As it was my first time I thought I'd try the Christmas menu - as an excuse to go back in the new year too (they gave us vouchers!)

All the normal food came and looked great.

And then mine didn't come - so we had to re-order it! At least I had my drinks.

And then when everyone had finished their food mine arrived!

And in fairness - it's a nice selection of stuff - but not that Christmassy or Indian.  That's my fault I guess - should have stuck to the ordinary menu.  Good flavours but something was just a hint too spicy - maybe it was these...

I had been looking forwards to these, but they were a touch underdone - would have benefited from the old skillet trick where they are still cooking as they come out, but that's not Christmassy.

Good - but nothing as exciting as Indian Streetry or Indian Brewery Company

But they do have some Christmas gift ideas in the toilets which is nice!

Cofresh Punjabi Samosas and Garlic Naan at home (@NLi10)

I live in an area with loads of Asian people - which means that even our local supermarkets have great options to try - for Eid, or just because its raining and the take-away is far.

Here we have a couple of Cofresh things - they make loads of great crisps so lets give their real food a try.

I've never had oven baked samosa before - traditionally they are fried - but I figured that it'd be healthier.

And of course we used authentic sauce. Oh. I had authentic sauces but only the milder ones and I figured that with the spicy (oh boy were they spicy) samosa that I needed a hot sauce to stand a chance.  This was only English strength hot though so was pretty medium in the end. Nice though (and on special!)

So here we have Quorn, peas & sauce, with the samosa and the garlic naan.  I think the naan needed a little longer, but was almost as soft and flavoursome as the ones that I get from my local High Street (4 for a £1) - a win!

The Samosa as mentioned before were really potent, and smaller than the fresh ones that we buy by the box for work.  I liked it like this, you can have too much potato, and the balance of crispiness to heat was great.  They burnt a little (my oven is terrible for evenness of heat) but were still great.

Overall much nicer than the pre-made takeway at home kits and the rest can sit in the freezer until needed (along with my paratha collection).

Ramadan Mubarak everyone!

Proppadoms - Poppadoms Done Proper - Jalapeno @myfamilysecret (by @NLi10)

My partner looks out for little snack things on her travels and picked these up from a garden centre I think.  I assumed that it was the same people as the proppercorn, but this is a whole new company to try out which is even better. 

It's what you'd expect - take a more interesting version of the crisp, add a more interesting twist on the flavour and then let it rip!  Only 25 g here so it's very much a portion, but we'll forgive them for that.

And look at all those ingredients! Almost all sound like things you'd cook with which is always a good start and they are based in Cradely Heath near us - and Dublin too!

And they certainly look like mini poppadoms, and they seem to have survived well in transit due to being a little thicker than the ones we get from the lovely restaurants of Bearwood & Cape Hill.

It's just a glorified crisp really, but they are incredibly tasty.  The Jalapeno is familiar, but not boring - and certainly isn't too powerful.  It's like someone's put Mexican starter dips out instead of Indian ones.  This in itself is an exciting combo, and coupled with the lovely rich poppadom itself makes for a very compelling snack. I expect these to end up winning those little award badges you see on all the good luxury snacks before long.

My advice is to get these into pubs and sell them (to me) alongside a nice selection of beers.  Fantastic stuff, and interesting enough that I saved the second bag of a different flavour to try a bit later just like this! 

 

Birmingham & Sandwell Mela - Indian Party In The Park (@NLi10)

More local goodies today - this time by where I live now.  Pic at the start for Instagram! 

Every year our local park hosts a Mela - which is an Asian carnival - for the tiny price of £2 you get to enjoy all the food stalls and the music.

Plenty of selfie opportunities too.  

Nicely the Commonwealth games stands haven’t stopped appearing - there was a demo for combat sports and wheelchair basketball - and both always had a queue to participate.

And there were freebies - we got a can of Coco Cabana Coconut Water each - and despite my reservations I decided to try it.  I liked it a lot more than I usually do - I think a mix of this brand, the heat and the food I had with it.

There were things for the kids too - including this preposterously high (20ft?) inflatable slide. They are braver than I am.

They did have Euro food too - but we went for Asian delights.

I chose the Dahi Puri at the top - little crispy shells with chick-pea, masala and all kinds of spices thrown in.  Absolutely gorgeous and so fresh.

My partner had samosa chaat which is basically onion, tomato and chickpea with all the usual spices and bits, but with a scoop of samosa bits added in which soaks up the sauce and makes for a really good time.

Surprisingly they had a lovely hand painted ghost train - we didn’t go on. Only £3 though.

For pudding we had Julabi which is basically candy-floss in flavours and ingredients. So much - all the food portions were £5 for ease so you got loads of this.

And you can finish your food while enjoying the live Bhangra music and dancing.

Belated Indian Pancake Day - Shana Onion Paratha by @NLi10

 Seeing as I've missed pancake day review slot this year (and Chiquito banana Wednesday) I decided to talk about these that we've been enjoying recently.  While pancake-like they aren't exactly the same thing - and come pre-frozen unlike they shakers of pancake mix you can buy.

Noticeably they are savoury too - previously we looked at the plain ones but here we have onion.  Shana have recently started targeting me with YouTube adverts suggesting my adopted child will be reminded of her homeland if I use their ingredients.  My cat does really enjoy naan, maybe they are right.

Flour, water, marge, salt, baking powder, onion & herbs. Done.

Each of the paratha has two bits of film separating them - guess that's easier to use but it does feel like overpackaging - thankfully the co-op will recycle film now.

A better view of the uncooked disk

then boom!

A few minutes later it's all puffed up and cooking nicely.

And they still taste great.  I didn't use butter to fry them this time which I think worked better - and it meant that the savoury onion flavour was there more strongly.  I think they do garlic ones too which I'd love to try - we had these as an accompaniment to a nice meal of leftovers!  Just like in the proper spirit of pancake day.