Andrew’s Cook it! Out for a spicy Sunday brunch at the famous Chilli Pickle

Sunday’s Cool

Passing by a small cafe on Lewes Road the other morning that offered Indian breakfast dishes, I was reminded that as yet I had failed to try the Sunday brunch menu at Chilli Pickle. An error that clearly needed to be rectified.

I called up my good friend, Mr L, and asked if he was up for a bit of spice… food, of course. He answered in the affirmative.

I called to book, always wise with Chilli Pickle, and on their advice chose to make a booking at 12.45pm, fifteen minutes prior to a lot of 1pm bookings. Now that is the kind of advice that I like to be given.

Thus armed, I walked into town to build up some appetite for what I suspected would not be a dainty repast. I was not wrong either.

Mr L was not there when I arrived, but a quick text message confirmed that, like me, he would have a Bloody Mary. To be honest, I think that the word brunch should never be used when not in conjunction with the words Bloody and Mary. It was good too; not too spicy, garnished not with celery but with a whole green chilli. I was fast to work out that extreme caution would be required if I was not to poke myself in the eye with the green devil.

When Mr L arrived, chef and owner Alun Sperring came out to say hello. It’s always good to chat with Alun who has a real passion for food, and for Brighton’s restaurant scene at all levels. It’s useful, too, to get his advice. Happily, he confirmed that my initial thoughts matched the dishes that he thought I would like best. He also suggested that we should share a starter; a good idea, as a lot of his dishes are pretty filling.

His suggestion of heirloom tomato namkeen chat was perfect, and the crisp crackers topped with spicy fresh tomatoes and a drizzle of yoghurt fit the bill exactly. It was one of those tantalising dishes that excited the palate but without overwhelming it.

I was pretty happy to let Mr L have first choice, and when he selected the chicken platter I was very happy as I really thought that he would have gone the route of venison and lamb. He loved his choice. The three kinds of chicken are so well balanced; a fiery minced kebab, succulent leg and oyster and pale green tikka, and the pickles to accompany them are as vibrant as ever. The whole comes on a large naan bread too. Now I can seldom finish that dish, but Mr L made light work of it, even finishing the bread.

I had the venison and lamb which came with a sweet potato dish, a rich tomato stew (Alun describes it as a gravy but I beg to differ), a tomato chutney of the salad kind, and a deep green mint chutney. The venison comes as a fragrant minced kebab, judiciously herbed and spiced so as not to disguise the rich gamey flavour of the meat. It was truly delicious, a real star, or at least it would have been had it not been eclipsed by the lamb. Three succulent cutlets in a rich and sticky red glaze, sizzling, I suspect, from the tandoor. Now a tandoor can be a pretty unforgiving method of cooking, so high are the temperatures achieved. In my past I have eaten, without pleasure, too many dishes cooked beyond rescue by a tandoor in inadequate hands. At Chilli Pickle the tandoor is in very safe hands and the chef responsible had delivered me three chops that combined the joy of crisp fat but not too much, the chops had been well trimmed, and juicy eye meat.

I attacked them with my knife and fork to start with, but it was not long before I realised that to do them justice, fingers would be required. I picked up each and gnawed at them until the bones were clean, unlike my beard and moustache which at that point harboured enough meat to provide me with a tasty snack at some later date.

The potato dish gave a perfect sweet balance to the chilli too, and the two pickles had a bright clean edge. The tomato stew/gravy was delicious, but I found that there was more of it than I needed, and I so hate leaving food.

We declined pudding as we were both replete, but agreed that coffee was a good idea. Mr L chose a black Americano but I was in an adventurous mood, and decided to try the Kerala coffee. This was a sweet milky drink flavoured with cardamom and served with a measure of theatre. I loved it; spice and sugar, what’s not to like eh? And Alun treated us to some sweetmeats that gave us an energy boost before we ventured on to our theatre appointment.

Chilli Pickle is great on so many levels, and owners Alun and Dawn have set the bar very high, a fact that has made this city a top destination when it comes to enjoying quality Southern Asian foods.

The Chilli Pickle, 17 Jubilee St, Brighton, BN1 1GE, 01273 900383/www.thechillipickle.com

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