Variety is the spice of life so rather than sticking to one Indian restaurant I love to try out different curry houses. Luckily there's no shortage to visit in Nottingham city centre... although I've worked my way through all of them now except one.
The one outstanding is Kottaram even though it's coming up for its first anniversary. I've been meaning to try their lunchtime thalis, which sound a really good deal, but in the end we go for a midweek curry feast one warm summer's night.
The location is on Nottingham's curry mile, Maid Marian Way. OK it's not really a mile, probably not even a third of a mile, but it's where the majority of Indian restaurants are situated.
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Reviews for Kottaram are excellent. "By far the best Indian food I’ve ever had," says one. Another reads "Great night out. Fabulous food, service and atmosphere. Great choice of food covering all of India with plenty of new dishes to taste and experience."
The restaurant I discovered is up for Newcomer of the Year in the English Curry Awards, honouring curry houses up and down the country, so they're clearly one to watch. For a Wednesday night the premises are surprisingly busy, with almost all the tables full, creating a buzz around the place. We sit by the window but it's not like a goldfish bowl with passers-by gawping in thanks to the wooden shutters with slats that allow the evening sunlight to filter through.
The premises, once Chambers, then the Bear and Lace, and until last year the Maharaja's Retreat, have an interesting blend of decor - part tropical, part old English with botanical wallpaper, a huge chandelier, faux book cases and straw shades over the bar.
You can tell a restaurant early on by the quality of the chutneys served with the poppadums and it's a good sign from the off. To begin with they're generous in size, secondly the flavours are a notch above the usual.
The mango chutney is glossy, tangy and sweet; the chopped onion delicately spiced but the real star of the show is the green apple, which proves a really good alternative to the usual mint yoghurt. It's so refreshing and cooling. After the last bite of a poppadum, I have an urge to pick up the teaspoon and shovel the rest into my mouth but I restrain myself.
Kottaram has a menu that takes customers on a culinary journey from north to south India. There's all the classic starters such as bhajis, samosas, and tandoori lamb cutlets but we skip past those on a jaunt to Mumbai for some traditional street food.
We're sitting at a table with a white linen tablecloth, but our taste buds are transported to the bustling Indian capital. Usually served from roadside stalls and street carts, my pappadi chat has been given a refined twist. Served in a Martini glass, it could almost be mistaken for an ice cream sundae at first glance.
Bitesize pieces of spicy potato and chickpeas are lavishly covered by creamy yoghurt, and topped off with tangy tamarind chutney, colourful pomegranates, tiny slivers of red onion and crispy sev - those spicy crispy strands you get in bags of Bombay mix. Four mini crackers are perfect for loading it up.
The fancy styling doesn't diminish from the taste of this cold dish. There's a party in my mouth of spice, sweet and sour flavours coupled with crisp and smooth textures. It's fresh and light - just right for a hot summer's evening.
My other half kicks off with golguppa shots, that are always good fun when they pop in your mouth with a flavour explosion. You have to fill the small crispy balls (which have potato and chickpeas inside) with a shot glass of tamarind water and then put in your mouth in one go. They could have got away with making them slightly smaller as they were almost too big to fit in.
I'm in a quandary over which main to pick. I love dosas, a south Indian filled pancake, and see one being taken out to another table. They're quite a size, at least a foot long. But there's so many other tempting dishes. As well as the usual north Indian staples rogan josh, butter chicken and chicken saag, there's an array of dishes from the south. Kerala, on the tropical Malabar coast, is renowned for its palm-lined beaches, backwaters and fish dishes.
When our mains arrive, it's a colourful spectacle of green, yellow, red and orange. I've gone for Travancore fish moilee, which comes served on top of a banana leaf. Monkfish is an ugly species - if you've ever seen one you'll know what I mean, with their big mouths full of spiky teeth - but my, it's luscious to eat, and often compared to lobster but not as pricy.
Big chunks of the white fish are succulent and sweet, bathed in a sauce of ginger, curry leaves and coconut milk that has a pleasing but not an overpowering burst of spiciness. My husband also sticks to the Kerala region but he goes for a chicken curry. The meat, in a fragrant onion and tomato sauce, is plentiful and tender.
We share a bowl of pilau rice (instead of the usual yellow or white it's sunshine orange). Ditching our go-to naan bread or paratha we try kallapam for the first time, not knowing what to expect. Google tells me its actually a Keralan breakfast pancake made with fermented rice and coconut batter.
I thought it might be stodgy but far from it. It's thick but so light and fluffy and almost dissolves in the mouth and is the ideal way to mop up all the delicious sauce that remains. With two in a portion, there's ample each.
Normally we'd ask for the bill at this point but we're talked into having a dessert. Let me say at the outset I don't normally like Indian desserts as they've far too sweet and sickly. We share gajar ki halwa, made from grated carrot simmered with milk, sugar and ghee, which sounded a bit odd to me.
But it's a revelation, like a warm, moist carrot cake without any stodgy sponge and vanilla ice cream rather than cream cheese frosting. I'm won over. I wonder if it counts towards your five-a day?
It really has been a flavour fest and an experience I'd love to repeat, especially as the restaurant has an updated menu with new dishes coming soon such as beef kizhi, chicken pepper roast and even quail egg roast. The service is friendly and efficient, making us feel at home.
The bill for food comes to just over £60 which isn't bad in today's climate - if we were to return next month it would be even less since there will be 50 per cent off food throughout July to celebrate one year of business. What more of an excuse do you need to visit?
Prices:
Poppadoms £1.69 each
Golguppa shots £5.95
Pappadi Chat Martini £5.95
Travancore fish moilee £15.29
Kerala chicken curry £14.59
Pilau rice £3.95
Kallapam £3.95
Gajar ki halwa £6.95
