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Liam Hetherington
Liam Hetherington
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22) Lal Qila - Midnight Meals on 'The Curry Mile'

22) Lal Qila - Midnight Meals on 'The Curry Mile'

Pakistan - 24/04/09

And so to the Curry Mile. The stretch of Wilmslow Road passing through Rusholme has been known as the Curry Mile for as long as I am aware. Curry houses cluster thickly, alongside music shops selling Bollywood tunes, clothiers with windows of stunning saris, and mini-markets stocked with goods from the Indian subcontinents. However, the gravity point of the businesses here has been shifting west recently. As one can tell that the two meals I’ve previously had here on my quest so far have been from Afghanistan and Iraq!

However, there are still a good number of ‘Indian’ restaurants on the Curry Mile. Though very few are actually run and managed by Indians (as far as I know, only one actually) – most ‘Indians’ in the UK are actually run by individuals hailing originally from Pakistan or Bangladesh. As one can tell by sign after sign down the road stating that all meat is halal in both English and Arabic. And some don’t have alcohol licenses (meaning that you can bring your own booze). Though as the British craze for curry predated Indian independence and partition in 1947, it is understandable that the same dishes tend to recur on menus no matter the restaurant’s provenance. You are unlikely to find either pork (forbidden to Muslims) or beef (forbidden to Hindus) on any menu – the purely Bangladeshi Coriander! is hence quite unusual.

Standards tend to vary among these restaurants. And despite living in Rusholme for four years I have been to less than half a dozen of them. Lal Qila is one that I had been to twice previously, and both times had enjoyed the meal. Plus it served beer. So it was chosen for the location for a cast curry following the Friday night performance of a show I had been in. We did not book in advance, but when we arrived at 11:30pm and requested a table for 18 (!) the staff quickly spang into action moving tables around to seat us. Just as quickly trays of poppadoms and sauces were provided as appetisers. The usual sauces are mango chutney, minted yogurt, fiery lime pickle, and ‘red onions’, the latter of which seems to be a specifically Mancunian dish – a salsa-type affair of chopped red onions and tomato. Associates down south have had to describe to restaurants what they wanted. At the same time a drinks order was taken. I ordered the Indian lager Cobra. (Annoyingly, according to the menu a half-pint of Cobra, Carlsberg or bitter all cost the same; however a pint of Cobra cost 20p more than any other beer).

Scrutinising the menu I had to work out what might be a spcifically ‘Pakistani’ meal – after all it would just be wrong to request a Madras curry if I was trying to find a Pakistani dish. And a Kashmiri curry could start off a diplomatic incident! And while on my previous visits I had both times enjoyed the chicken makhani (in a yellow buttery dish) I had a feeling that that was a specifically indian dish. So, as ever, I turned to the house specials. One that caught my eye was lamb nihari – principally because I had never tried it before. (It actually turned out to be a good call. According to Wikipedia, nihari "originated as a dish of the Muslim upper class society" – albeit in Delhi. It is also traditionally acurry consumed for breakfast. Still, by the time it was served it was after midnight, so I was only a few hours early!

Despite there being eighteen diners all with different orders, the staff managed to produce the meals practically all at once – there was only a slight delay for the niharis to be produced (two other cast members, Justin and Sam, had also ordered the same dish). Pilau rice was produced, fluffy and yellow, piled high on platters. Buttered naan bread also came for those who had ordered it. Unusually for me, I was only having a half, sharing with Laura; I’m usually very possessive about my naan!

The nihari proved to be a dish of big chunks of stewed lamb served in a gravy-coloured sauce. The taste was also nearer to a gravy than a curry, being quite meaty and mild, with only a tingle of spice at the back of the throat. The texture was pure curry though. I’ve never been one to order the spiciest dish on the menu, but I think in future I would have preferred a dish a bit more richly spiced. But actually, my only criticism really would be that the sauce was a bit too oily. The meat itself was great and was soon finished off.

The final price for curry, rice, half-naan, poppadom & sauces, and a pint of Cobra was £16.00. Considering that you would be paying £4.00 from a kebab house, this has to count as pretty decent value. In all we were there for 90 minutes, sitting and talking, and drinking beer after the pubs had shut. It was not the most amazing meal I’ve ever experienced, but it still hit the necessary spot. So I’ve now visited Lal Qila three times, and have had three enjoyable meals.

(Under the catch-all name of ‘Indian’ it’s hard to know what restaurants actually are Indian, or Pakistani, or Bangladeshi. I think most restaurants along the Curry Mile are principally Pakistani - certainly the Islamabad Grill is a safe bet! Darbar I think is Pakistani too and have enjoyed meals there previously (bring your own booze). Spicy Hut and Sanam Restaurant and Sweet House both have management of Pakistani origin I believe. Or just check out the www.rusholmecurry.co.uk website to find out more recommendations on restauarants along the Curry Mile.)

From journal Around the World in 80 Meals! (part 3)

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