The Brilliant ‘Barton Bangla’

Ok – so the title might give away how I feel about the indian restaurant I’m about to review but it seemed fitting enough! Even though I am a lover of all things spicy, I have to really be in the mood for Indian before choosing to dine out at an Indian restaurant. However, I would highly recommend the Barton Bangla Brasserie if you fancy a pleasant evening out and a delicious curry.

The Bangla is situated on the A6 in Barton, on route to Garstang and is not the largest of restaurants so I would advise booking in advance, especially if you are going on a weekend. On arrival, you will be welcomed by the friendly staff and seated in the bar area so you can enjoy your first drink whilst perusing their extensive menu.

If you are opting for starters, I would recommend trying the Chicken Tikka Garlic or the Kufta Ponner (minced lamb stuffed with cheese) – it may sound strange but it’s really tasty. If you are going straight to main courses, I suggest you get some popadoms and the chutney selection as it’s always nice to have something to nibble on while you’re waiting for your food!

When it comes to your mains, there really are numerous excellent choices to choose from, even if you can’t handle too much heat, there are some wonderful medium and mild dishes on offer as well. For those who do like their spicy food, the Chicken Tikka Garlic Chillies is to die for; it has an abundance of chillies and lots of garlic, I have asked for it with king prawns in the past and throughly enjoyed it. A medium dish that my mum raves about is the Chicken Jaflong; marinated chicken with onions, peppers and spices and they do a mild dish, similar to a korma, which is called Noorani Chicken and is popular with a couple of my friends.

Also available at the Barton Bangla, are your balti, tandoori and masala dished which you can have with your choice of meat or fish. Oh, and one last thing about the food, their naan breads are delicious!

The Bangla has a lovely atmosphere and there is a conservatory area that you might want to ask to be seated in as it’s even nicer than the main restaurant in my opinion. The service has always been brilliant when I’ve been; the staff are very attentive and will happily recommend dishes to suit your tastes. This is not a restaurant where you are ‘rushed in and rushed out’, although this is a positive for me, it may be a problem if you are in a hurry! Myself, my partner and another couple went for a meal here a couple of weeks ago and decided to try a set menu (also delicious and reasonably priced) and there were quite lengthy pauses between courses; we were probably there just under 3 hours but left feeling pleasantly full and very merry, possibly due to the bottles of wine we’d enjoyed whilst there…

Visit their website at: http://bartonbanglabrasserie.com/

Picture courtesy of Danny Choo on Flickr

Spicy Chicken Curry Recipe – Tried and Tested

I recently went onto Youtube to look for spicy food recipes and was surprised at how many ‘cook along’ recipes there were online. I decided to try to follow a couple of the recipes at home and this one was particularly delicious.

I would recommend  playing the video on ‘mute’ whilst making the curry, as the music can be rather distracting, but each to their own of course. All your instructions appear on-screen as opposed to someone talking you through the process, which I found quite handy as the text was clearly displayed and I could pause it after each stage.

Initially, I was a little worried that I hadn’t heard of a couple of the ingredients, however, fenugreek seeds were easy to locate in the herbs and spices aisle at my local Morrisons and I’m sure other supermarkets will sell them too. I didn’t find black cumin but discovered regular cumin seeds work just as well. Also, I used freshly chopped coriander as opposed to cilantro which I couldn’t hunt down. I  am a fan of mushrooms so added some chopped chestnut ones at the same time as adding my onions, I feel they ‘bulk up’ a meal and add another texture.

The amount of chillies used in the Youtube video proved just right for me and certainly added a wonderful ‘kick’, however I was cooking for my parents and my dad found it a little too spicy so it’s just a case of being aware of who you are cooking for and compromising once in a while! Personally, I am not a lover of ginger so I left this out of my curry and don’t think it had a negative impact on the dish. I served my dish with basmati rice which was lovely but you could have it on its own or with a naan to dip if you prefer.

Whilst I was cooking, my parents commented that it smelt delicious and that the kitchen smelt of an authentic curry house! On conclusion, I thought this curry was really tasty and my mum and dad certainly made all the right noises when they were eating it… Something I might consider doing next time, is adding some natural yoghurt to the recipe before allowing the dish to simmer as I think it would add a nice twist if the curry was a bit creamy.

Give it a go and let me know what you think!

Video added by EpicentreSpices on Youtube