If you are still eating in an Indian restaurant with flock wallpaper on the walls then you need to get out more! Here in sunny Spain there are numerous Indian restaurants to choose from, we’ve already featured two in the past six months. Going back to decor for a moment, how many of you remember that 80’s trend for ‘rag roll’ rather than wallpaper? And hands up who tried their hand at it and failed? Well to see it perfectly done get yourself down to the Spice Hut in Ciudad Quesada. The added bonus here is that you will be in for a great curry!

 

Forget about those curry houses that just keep huge pots of sauce bubbling away from which they take your order, adding whatever meat, fish or vegetables you have asked for then spicing it to the required heat. This is not the way great curries are made nor is it the Spice Hut way. Each dish is individually cooked to order. So if you would like less salt, more coriander just ask. They even have a separate kitchen where they prepare vegetarian meals, which are some of their specialities.

 

Pam and I have eaten here on several occasions, this visit last Friday night found the place buzzing, always a good sign. We sat in the lounge area with pre-dinner drinks while we perused the menu. I like an Indian beer or two when I’m in a curry house, Kingfisher or Cobra beers are most commonly found. The Spice Hut keeps Cobra but on the last two visits there has been a problem with this beer, I’m not sure why. It tastes stale or is very flat. I tried two bottles this visit the first flat the second was good. They may need to look at their supplier. A minor problem since they keep plenty of other brands.

 

We made our choices and were shown to our table, popadums with dips were waiting for us. These were the plain variety, do ask if you would like something a little different as they do offer the spiced poppadum. If you haven’t tried them I recommend you give them a go. Pam, always with an eye on her diet, tries to order a dry curry (without sauce) whenever she can. Here at the Spice Hut they offer a mixed tandoori platter with tandoori chicken, chicken tikka, lamb tikka, sheekh kebab and Jhinga Ajwain (prawns) that fits the bill and is scrumptious. I chose the chicken tikka Pathia. Pathia is I believe is a Persian dish. It is both sweet and sour, with a combination of tamarind and red chillies, cooked in a caramelized sauce to provide the sweetness. This dish can be very fiery in some establishments, here they serve it about as hot as I would want. I’m not of the school that says your curry should leave your eyes watering! To share with these two dishes we chose pilau rice, aloo gobi, mushroom bhaji and a stuffed paratha (stuffed with spiced potatoes and coriander).

 

Well let me tell you… I’ve become a convert to Pathia especially, if not only, as prepared by the chef here. This cannot be good for the diet it’s way to nice, I really like the whole sweet and sour thing and although this would have to be said to be a hot curry it does not lose the underlying flavours of the spices used. Superb! Pam’s mixed tandoori was equally good and huge, I of course manfully stepped in to help out. The word here is succulent! The aloo gobi and stuffed paratha are also worthy of a special mention. I don’t know about you but I feel I can instinctively tell when care and passion has been part of the cooking process. I certainly get that impression here.

 

We finished the meal with their homemade mango Kulfi (Indian ice-cream) regular readers might remember that we have not been fans of Kulfi in the past but the spice Hut has changed that. However too much of a good thing can spoil the effect, we were glad we took the advice to share this dessert.

 

And so to our thoughts on the Spice Hut… You know if it hadn’t been for that flat beer they could have been joining the ranks of the five star restaurants. The service is very friendly and warm, the ambiance is fresh and the curries are great!.

 

Avenida Las Naciones 27, Ciudad Quesada. Tel. No. 966 731 063