PURE Indian Cooking sounds more like a statement than a name for a restaurant, however, if you’ve ever been to India you’ll know that the use of the word ‘pure’ is often a good sign.
‘Pure vegetarian’ is a common phrase used to indicate when someone or something is truly vegetarian without contamination of meat. It is also used to emphasise words, much like in this case.
Located in Fulham, Pure Indian Cooking or PIC, is wedged conveniently amongst shops and restaurants in the busy high street. From the outside, it doesn’t appear to be particularly striking, but if you’re basing Indian restaurants on their facades then you might have a hard time struggling to find the good stuff.
At the helm of PIC is Chef-Patron Shilpa Dandekar, whose cheffing history began at Taj hotel group, India’s most luxurious collection of hotels. Her history as Sous chef at the Michelin-starred Indian restaurant Quilon explains a lot, as many of the dishes are served with a side of pizzazz.
The trio of samosas were the star of the show
Our starters came neatly arranged on the plate, with the goats cheese, spinach and sundried tomato samosa taking centre stage. Each of the three samosas came served in shot glass with a different sauce for each. The flavours worked well, and it was a nice change to have goats cheese in a setting where paneer would usually be. My guest picked at his pulled lamb dish, but wasn’t convinced it worked when shredded in that style. We also enjoyed the patra chaat but we ended up fighting for the third samosa.
By the time mains arrived, the restaurant was near to full at the hour struck 8. As you can imagine, guests were sipping on pints of Indian lager, but it was nice to see plenty of wines drinkers too. This may be down to the selection, as we too are swayed after seeing a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon that we like.
Baingan bharta
When it came to ordering, my guest was very drawn to the more ‘out there’ options such as the Tandoori duck and Venison steak but he quickly convinced himself to stick to what he knows, going for the chicken biryani. The asparagus and pine nut porial caught my attention, so it ordered it along with a classic tadka dal. I started with the asparagus dish which was light and fresh.
Although it’s always nice to eat seasonal veg in restaurants, I’m not sure if it necessarily belonged on the menu as it didn’t boast much flavour compared to the rest of the food we’d had. With British ingredients at the helm of the Shilpa’s menu, I wondered if there could have been more veggie-friendly options that boasted more vegetables that were in season at the time.
My guest enjoyed his biryani, leaving nothing behind on the plate, but he later revealed that he wished he was more adventurous with his choice.
Pure Indian Cooking has the potential to go further with its concept of modern Indian cooking with a focus on British ingredients, but it stands confused between its offering of classic Indian dishes and slightly more experimental plates. It is a great option for no-fuss casual weekday dinners, but it is not yet the talk of the town.
by Katrina Mirpuri
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