The Artful Diner tries out a new curry club hosted by the executive chef of Carom, Balaji Balachander…

Finding out what really goes into the food you eat in a restaurant can be tricky. I’m not just talking about the ingredients, but the people who cook them and discovering what happens behind the scenes to make the food on your plate worth paying for.

It made perfect sense, therefore, for me to join the first curry club at Carom. For one night at the start of each month Balaji (or Bala) opens his kitchen to demonstrate a signature dish. For anyone interested in learning about Indian cookery, it’s an invaluable chance to quiz a fantastic (and friendly!) Indian chef who grew up in Chennai and worked as executive chef under Atul Kochhar at Benares.

A Bangalore Cooler and then to the ovens…

The cookery demonstration begins at 5.30pm but first we are welcomed with a cocktail – we choose between the likes of a Bangalore Cooler, made with Indian single malt whisky, or a Shahi Aloo, featuring Bloom Gin and homemade saffron syrup.

At 5.30pm, Bala welcomes us into his kitchen with a short tour of the different sections. Already his team is quietly buzzing around, preparing for the evening ahead. We gather around the tandoors, which reach temperatures of 600ºC [see a picture of naan in the tandoor, above].

As we gather around the stove, Bala invites us to ask questions and talks through each stage of the cooking process. Today he is cooking a Kerala fish curry [below], but on 7 March he will demonstrate a Chennai chicken curry.

Here are just some of the useful things I learned about Indian cookery…

• Garam masala (an aromatic mixture of ground spices) should be added at the end of cooking a dish, or else it will become bitter in taste.
• Typically, in Indian cookery you start off a dish by flavouring the hot oil with whole spices like cardamom or cinnamon. Don’t bring the oil to smoking point or you will burn the spices. It needs to be hot enough for them to pop, but no more.
• A masala is cooked when it has simmered long enough for the oils to rise to the surface. Take it off the heat any earlier and you run the risk of the spices tasting raw.
• Once you add coconut milk to the masala, make sure to keep stirring or it will split.
• Garam masala is a very good partner to lamb; turmeric works very well with prawns; coriander seeds are the perfect accompaniment to chicken and beef works very well with a combination of black pepper and fennel, which balances the harshness of the pepper.
• (Oh, and, just as an aside, ladies, chewing on raw curry leaves [picture below] is meant to make your hair glossy. This is a tip gleaned from Bala’s mother and sister.)

Further information

The next curry club takes place on 7 March and costs £50 to include a three- course meal, the demonstration, a cocktail and goodie bag containing Bala’s homemade chutney.