Saffron the Indian jewel of the Black Country
Food critic Richard McComb meets the West Midlands iron man of Indian cuisine.
Cartographers drawing up a culinary map of England would not immediately be drawn to Oldbury.
The area’s food highlights include a local Savacentre, the pastry section at Asda and any number of fried food emporia. Generally speaking, the pickings are slim, bordering on anorexic.
There is, however, one beacon of light. And if things go to plan, it could be coming to Birmingham.
Saffron, a modern Indian restaurant off the Wolverhampton Road, opened in 2003 and you, like me (at least until recently), may have heard of it but not actually been there. If that’s the case, you are missing out.
Executive chef Sudha Shankar Saha is hugely creative, with skill allied to incredible hard ethic.
The first time we met, he was about to hop on a train to London to take part in a high-profile chef demonstration, sharing the stage with Raymond Blanc and Gary Rhodes.
When we next meet, for dinner (he’s cooking, I’m eating), Sudha has just got back from the National Exhibition Centre, where he was beguiling visitors at a food show. In between our two encounters, he found time for a fact-finding trip to India to spice up his prize recipe repertoire.
Calcutta-born Sudha, who is 36, says: “Our main aim is to refine Indian cuisine. We are trying to break down the cultural boundaries. It is not just curry and a pint.
‘‘Indian food has been wrongly interpreted in this country. Now we have Indian restaurants with Michelin stars and a finesse of cuisine and that is what we are trying to educate people about. This is not lager food. It can be combined with good wine.”
In fact, it’s a million miles from “lager food.”
During an enjoyable two-hour dinner experience, Sudha impresses with his beautifully presented, flavoursome food. There is a lovely pre-starter of tawa scallops, served with a mixed fruit salsa, cauliflower and red pimento relish and a balsamic reduction.
Then we are into rabbit varual (with fragrant south Indian spices, parsnip strips and a beetroot coulis); masala dosa; mixed tandoori meat kebabs and knock-out hara bara kebabs (plump spicy lentil and spinach patties, originating from Uttar Pradesh).
For an extra, Sudha arrives with a dish he is working on – a spiced aubergine and goat’s cheese stack.
It is presented like a millefeuille with a tamarind coulis, coriander and sweet chilly dressing. You’d think you probably can’t eat it, because the mains are coming. Then you try it and can’t stop. It’s very light.
The mains are as exquisite and well conceived as the starters. Nalli gosht, one of Saffron’s most popular dishes, comprises overnight marinated Welsh lamb shank, braised with tomato, onion, ginger and garlic, fresh herbs and spices. It’s fall-off-the-bone stuff.
Malabar jhinga delivers king prawns simmered in a spiced onion and tomato sauce, finish with coconut milk; chicken chadni chowk is lightly spiced and creamy with a sautéed julienne of seasonal vegetables; and twal i machli is a lovely piece of spicy red mullet on a cake of chick pea and spinach with a turmeric scented beurre blanc.
It sounds good, doesn’t it? Not lager food at all. There are flashes of modern British (ie appropriated French) techniques that bring lightness to the food.
I think it’s delicious.
The restaurant’s founder/director Aklasul Momin insists Sudha’s style of cooking requires “preparation and finesse.”
Inevitably, more time is required in the kitchen, which has proved to be a culture shock for some customers. Bangladeshi-born Momin, aged 40, says: “The frustration is that people want curry in ten minutes. People don’t expect that if they go to somewhere like Simpsons. I think if a starter comes in 20 minutes [of being ordered] that is normal. Now more regulars understand this.”
I take his point but I think service times need to be tweaked.
