Saturday 10 July 2010

Fantastic Indian vegan meal, making a tomato rose

Whilst we were away, housesitting, we went to Gloucester for the day.  On our way home we looked out for an Indian restaurant to eat dinner in.  I spotted a huge sign reading "Balti King - Bangladeshi and Indian Cuisine". so we pulled over.


The menu looked interesting, so we entered and sat down - we were the only customers - well, I supposed it was quite early, really, about six o'clock, not the busiest period!  It's not the prettiest of restaurants, so when my plate of food arrived I was amazed!!!


Doesn't it look good enough to eat???  I loved the tomato rose - so cleanly done, it looked really impressive.  Nunu, the manager, came over to make sure we were OK, and stayed to chat for virtually the whole meal - he's a lovely man.

I asked him about the beautiful rose, and he said the chef made them freshly for each customer.  I asked if I might be allowed to watch him, since the restaurant was quiet at the moment.  He disappeared, and re-appeared with Babu, the chefly genius:)

Babu kindly agreed for me to take a few photographs, and was delighted to know that he would be appearing on a blog post, he was a really sweet man, and, as you can see, very clever with his hands.


He stood before us with a plate on the table, and a tomato in one hand and a sharp knife in the other.  In no time at all, the tomato skin was pared away and spiralling down in front of him toward the plate.

He speedily gathered up the skin, coiling it round, then placed in on top of the tomato. 


Then he sliced the tomato horizontally, leaving the "rose" sitting on a pedestal of a half a tomato.  I'm sorry my photos don't do him justice.


And here is Babu himself - hi Babu - I hope you like seeing yourself in my blog!

So, if you fancy an Indian or Bangladeshi meal when you're around Gloucester, do call in and give them a try - I'm sure you'll find something to please you.  They weren't fazed by my vegan diet, nor my intolerance of wheat, and provided us with really tasty, good-looking food.  We'll certainly return another time.  Find them on www.balti-king.co.uk

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