Curry Leaf Cafe
In these extraordinary times it has been both wonderful and heartening to see how people are dealing with things and in particular with food. After the initial panic buying and emergence of selfish hoarders it seems to be time to get in the kitchen and shake those pots and pans. And no excuses, none of our favourite restaurants are open… or are they?
Well many are open by changing what they do and offer delivery, even those who might never have even considered doing take-away before.
I have certainly been busy in the kitchen but at the end of last week the craving for a) a meal that I had not cooked and b) a hit of real spice was overwhelming. Fortunately Curry Leaf Cafe came to the rescue with a new offering of delivered chilled food.
I have never been a big fan of take-away, an occasional indulged yes, but not a regular. This seemed like a far better idea, my meal would be delivered in chilled containers with full re-heating instructions. I addition every dish was that bit less expensive than a conventional take-away, there being no VAT to pay which at 20% is worth considering.
The menu has plenty choices including set meals for two at £20 plus lots of sides and, hoorah, some excellent beers and gin too!
The gin was Hoxton, which is flavoured with coconut. I have had a bottle on my shelf for some years now but never really taken to it, but hey, who would have guessed that it makes a good pairing with spicy Indian food… okay yes, it now seems obvious.
To start there were great vegetable samosas and pakoras which reheated in the oven well and came out properly crisp, the instructions provided are excellent. The chicken tikka was also good and as I had hoped really moist unlike the bone dry and flame red nonsense that sometime we are served.
Next a great chickpea and mushroom curry, delicious and hearty too. With it a chicken curry packed with huge pieces of succulent chicken in a rich sauce. I tried two kinds of rice, plain steam and fragrant biryani rice and the coriander and garlic naan also came out of the oven almost as successfully as the other dishes. There was also a range of sauces and dips on the side.
The rest was reheated in the microwave, yes I have one, and it seemed like the best way to avoid a mountain of washing up too.
Curry Leaf Cafe deliver by chilled van in areas of the city on a rotating basis and as the food is chilled it certainly does not need to be eaten that day. They are also donating to the much needed support of our health workers.
They are not alone of course in doing this, but they are doing it well and for that they must be applauded. My craving for a spicy meal was sated for sure so hats off to them.
To find out more go to their website where you will find their chilled food menus.
curryleafcafe.com
DELIVERY AREAS & SCHEDULE
BRIGHTON & HOVE, SHOREHAM-BY-SEA, SOUTHWICK, SALTDEAN & PEACEHAVEN
(Orders must be received by 2pm on day of delivery)
WEDNESDAYS (5-8:30pm): BN1 1 • BN1 2 • BN1 3 • BN1 4 • BN2 1 • BN3 1 • BN3 2 • BN3 3 • BN3 4 • BN3 5
THURSDAYS (5-8:30pm): BN1 5 • BN2 1 • BN3 6 • BN3 7 • BN3 8 • BN41 1 • BN41 2 • BN42 2 • BN42 4 • BN43 5 • BN43 6
FRIDAYS (5-8:30pm): BN1 6 • BN1 7 • BN1 8 • BN1 9 • BN2 1
SATURDAYS (5-8:30pm): BN2 0 • BN2 1 • BN2 3 • BN2 4 • BN2 9
SUNDAYS (5-8:30pm): BN2 1 • BN2 5 • BN2 6 • BN2 7 • BN2 8 • BN10
HASSOCKS, HURSTPIERPOINT & HENFIELD
(Orders must be received by 2pm Wednesday)
THURSDAY 9th & 23rd APRIL (11am-3pm): ALL BN5 & BN6 POSTCODES
BURGESS HILL & HAYWARDS HEATH
(Orders must be received by 2pm Wednesday)
THURSDAY 16th & 30th APRIL (11am-3pm): ALL RH15 & RH16 POSTCODES
LEWES
(Orders must be received by 2pm Friday)
SATURDAY 18th APRIL & 2nd MAY (11am-3pm): ALL BN7 POSTCODES
WORTHING & LANCING
(Orders must be received by 2pm Friday)
SATURDAY 11th & 25th APRIL (11am-3pm): BN11 1 • BN11 2 • BN11 3 • BN11 4 • BN11 5 • BN11 9 • BN12 4 • BN12 5 • BN12 6 • BN13 1 • BN13 2 • BN13 3 • BN14 0 • BN14 7 • BN14 8 • BN14 9 • BN15
