A Lockdown Takeaway Treat From The Curry Lounge, Somercotes
Published On Wednesday 22 Apr 2020 by Sticky Beak
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Regular readers of this blog will soon spot the error, but for now I shall carry on regardless before filling you in on my ineptitude in a wee while. It’s day gazillion in the locked down nest and, to be totally frank with you, The Man Bird is thoroughly wazzed-off with my cooking skills or lack thereof! It was a case of suffer yet again at the hand of my culinary efforts or scout out which local restaurants were still operating in a collect or delivery capacity – guess which option he took?!
Thankfully our fab local Indian restaurant, The Curry Lounge, is still trading and gives you the option to either have your meal delivered or you can nip up and collect it at a specified time. Given the fact that we’re less than a mile from the venue, we figured it would be better to nip up and grab it ourselves rather than have it doing however many miles along with other folks’ choices. We used ‘food hub’ to place our order and pay for it, but you can still order from The Curry Lounge by phoning them up.
Off His Nibs trotted (via little detour to the Co-op to grab some chilled Cobra beers and bits that I’d forgotten to get on the shopping list – oops!!) and it wasn’t long before he returned, victoriously clutching the bag of yumminess that would save him and his digestive system from my ‘cooking’ for 24 hours.
In his absence I had been a dutiful wifey and got the plates and cutlery out, so all we had to do was get the containers out of the bag, wash our hands and dish our chosen curries up. We’d both chosen dishes we’d had before from the Curry Lounge Signatures section of the menu: Murghi Masalam for Him and Coco Rani for me – both are chicken based dishes with a 2 chilli rating. As per our usual habit when dining in (who can remember the heady days of doing that?!), we had a portion of Lemon and Chilli Rice and a Garlic Naan Bread: rock n roll, or what?
One thing you’re not going to be after scoffing a curry from The Curry Lounge is hungry – each container had got enough in for at least two people (!) which is fine by me. My Coco Rani dish comprises pieces of Chicken breast cooked in Goan Masala spices with fresh Coriander, Green Chillies and Coconut Milk, and the chunks of chicken were very much in evidence – none of that “hunt through the sauce to find the meat” malarkey here, it was staring me right in the mush. The chicken pieces were tender and moist and fell apart easily as I cut into them, and the accompanying sauce had a decent heat to it that made my palate sit up and pay attention without making my lips or tongue tingle. There were also plenty of Onions and Peppers in the dish to give a bit of crunch and colour to the meal. I have to say that it was every bit as good as the version I’ve previously eaten in-house, just maybe not as piping hot - but then, given the fact it has to come out of the kitchen, get picked up, get home, be unpacked and get popped on the plate, it’s never going to be quite as hot is it?
His Nibs was equally happy with his choice of dish; his beloved Murghi Masalam. As with my dish, there was more chicken than you could shake a stick at nestled in amongst the sauce; actually this dish is a double delight of chicken: you get chunks of poultry as well as minced chicken in the Murghi Masalam. The spices used in this dish give it a beautiful kick but not so much that it leaves your mouth tingling; more of a layered heat whose components reveal themselves over a few seconds. There are also Potatoes, Tomatoes and fresh Coriander in this delicious dish and His Nibs immersed himself in the task of scooping them up into his mouth with bits of the Garlic Naan bread.
Okey doke, this is where I have to come clean about my rookie error. You may have noticed by now that there is a distinct lack of photographs of this marvellous feast; yup, in our giddy excitement of ordering food and GOING OUT to pick it up from a RESTAURANT, we had been so eager to unpack it and tuck in that we’d completely forgotten to capture it on film!! Duh!!! I don’t feel too bad though because, let’s face it, we all know what a takeaway container of curry looks like don’t we? And it’s not like there was a particularly fancy garnish that would’ve looked beautiful on film or HD card, so you haven’t really missed out on anything – but I do apologise to you for being such a greedy, piggy dufus. I can’t guarantee it’ll not happen again in this covid-craziness, but I shall try to do better next time.
Curry Lounge does a splendid selection of rice’s (10 to be exact) and our fave is the Lemon and Chilli one. The rice itself is always lovely and fluffy and you get a nice amount of fine Lemon rind that is clean on the palate, partnered by fiery, finely chopped Green Chillies to kick the heat factor up. Not only that, but the yellow rind and green chilli contrast very well to give this humble accompaniment some visual appeal too.
Any curry house worth its Tikka Masala can make Naan Breads, but The Curry Lounge Chefs do a great job with theirs, I must say. The texture is pleasantly light and it isn’t clarty in the mouth; best of all though, if you choose a “flavour” of Naan bread, you can certainly taste it. We always get a great hit of Garlic with the Garlic Naan bread, and you can see the slices of garlic in it I’ve also had the Peshwari type and it’s stuffed to the brim in the middle with coconut and dried fruits, so you can really savour its sweeter edge.
Hot Wings given to this brilliant team for their takeaway offering; I can’t comment on how it would be if we’d chosen the delivery option (given that it always takes longer for your food to arrive), but if you go and collect it yourself (as we did) then it’s super.
Normally, The Curry Lounge is shut on Tuesdays but whilst this Coronavirus madness with social distancing and lockdown is on-going they are open 7 days a week. More than ever, local businesses need our support so why not treat yourself to a scrummy curry?.
www.curryloungederby.co.uk
foodhub.co.uk/takeaway/somercote/curry-lounge
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