THE Best Lamb Dhansak I have Ever Eaten....

Yes it is true - quite simply THE best Dhansak I'd ever eaten - this Curry Blogger had an epiphany!

Me on the train

I do like a Dhansak it has to be said.  The generally thick, often gloopy, sauce, created by the dahl, is most agreeable to me, and the sweet and sour accents are a delight.  It was not a surprise that I liked it but...

Here at the Shesh Mahal, the Dhansak was a little different.  Yes the lentils were there, and yes the sweet and sour aspect was there.  However, no gloopyness.  The trade mark bone dry Bradford Curry was much in evidence, with the dahl providing more of a speckled effect within the dry clingy sauce, and offering more bite also.  The seemingly favoured, and welcomed, Sheesh Mahal sourness - evident in many of their curries - was obvious on initial samplings also.  

Me on the street

Then...  BANG!  Little bombs of pineapple sweetness began exploding in my mouth.  Next mouthful... sour meaty lentil curry... Next mouthful  BANG!  And so on.  It appeared here what Sheesh Mahal had achieved, by creating this dry Bradford masterpiece, and avoiding the traditional homogeneous lentil swamp with meat floating in it, was a dish full of surprises.  Hats Off.

And to think, I nearly turned down this curry eating trip!  I would have been mad to do so.

The famous Hector Curry Heute was in town at the Bradford Beer Festival, and had contacted me a couple of days prior to say so.  A date and time was set... Friday at Midnight!  Now, as you, my dear readers, are likely to know, I have a baby daughter.  And as many of you, my dear readers, who may also have baby daughters, will know, a  midnight curry - or midnight anything - is essentially a no no!  These days, little past 9pm ever happens!

Complimentary Starter - Lucky Boys!

Just as I was leaving for the last train into Bradford, the Mrs bided me a fond goodnight with a sly smile and sarcastic "enjoy your curry."  Yes the temptations to slope off to bed with fruit tea, a bag of Mini Eggs and Sky+ was very tempting.

However, a date is a date.

Hector Curry Heute had a 'special' - he doesn't even have to look at the menu!  His account can be read here.  What was brought was a lamb on the bone and spiniach.  I heard no complaints as the bones were relieved of their meat and deposited on a side plate with a resounding clank! 

A great night was had

Hector Curry Heute with curry