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Food<br />
Written by Sammi Nice<br />
spice it up!<br />
We headed to Zara Indian to<br />
meet the team behind their<br />
award-winning dishes<br />
Like most, I have my regular local Indian cuisine go-to, and never<br />
tend to stray from this. But I’d heard great things about Shelford’s<br />
Indian restaurant, Zara, and was most excited to give it a try.<br />
Arriving at the award-winning restaurant, which used to be a part<br />
of the Great Shelford railway station, it had a fresh and modern<br />
feel to it. We were welcomed by the owner, Khaled, took a seat<br />
and began looking through the menu. I wasn’t really sure where to<br />
start, as the selection of dishes was never ending. Being a fan of<br />
fish, I was particularly interested in the fish specialities, a variety<br />
of dishes using salmon, trout, sea bass, boal (Bengal catfish)<br />
and ayre (Bengal freshwater fish). I vowed not to have my usual,<br />
and thought now was most certainly the time to be a little more<br />
experimental. Now is when I should probably admit to, nine times<br />
out of ten, ordering a chicken korma and frequently being called<br />
‘boring!’ If I’m feeling adventurous, I’ll sometimes opt for a chicken<br />
shashlik - how wild!<br />
I thought it would be best to ask what they would recommend.<br />
Khaled began asking what I’d usually have and what types of<br />
flavours I liked. I wanted to try something mild but was open to<br />
anything. Khaled recommended a few different options including<br />
a pasanda and an al badami which I’d never heard of. “It’s a mild<br />
dish which is quite sweet. It’s flavoured with mango and cooked<br />
with nuts, spices, herbs and cream,” he told us. Khaled talked<br />
us though some of the other dishes they offer, and I ended up<br />
choosing a jaipuri. This is an authentic Maughol dish with onions,<br />
yoghurt, jeera, coriander, tomato, fresh herbs and cream. Khaled<br />
picked some other side dishes and I trusted his opinion and expert<br />
knowledge.<br />
In the meantime, I remained polite, or perhaps normal, and<br />
ordered just the one poppadom! We got to try the paneer<br />
shashlick and salmon tikka to start, which are again dishes I’d never<br />
tried before. The paneer shashlick was pieces of cheese marinated<br />
22<br />
<strong>Velvet</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> | Apr <strong>2016</strong>
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