The Heat Is Indeed On For The Scottish Curry Awards 2013 Finalists

Thursday, May 30, 2013 | Posted by Trampy |
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 With only just over a week to go until the Scottish Curry Awards 2013 it's fair to say the heat is on, it's on the street, inside your head, on every beat. The most recent development ahead of the big night on June 10 is the announcement of the finalists in each of the categories, of which there are more than ever before. There's lots to take in, but here are the categories and nominees that caught TATTGOC's eye, including a curry-loving goalie and the Chilli Papas spice mixes previously featured on Tastin' With The Tramps ...

 Curry Lover of the Year
Dani Downs, Hutchison Vales Ladies FC goalkeeper
Aasmah Mir, broadcaster and www.crackingcurries.com founder
Sandy Wilkie, Wiseman Dairies Sales and Marketing director

 Best of Glasgow
Cafe India, Merchant City
Akbar’s
Charcoals
Balbir’s, Church Street
Kama Sutra
Mother India’s Cafe
Koolba
Shish Mahal
Chillies West End
Masala Twist, Byres Road

Best of Edinburgh
Shezan Restaurant
Kebabish Original
Mithas
Indian Cavalry Club
Britannia Spice
There's more info about the event at www.lovecurry.info

Team of the Year
Taj Mahal, Biggar
Bombay Lounge, Dalkieth
The Killermount Polo Club, Glasgow
Maisha’s Restaurant, St Andrews
Turban Tandoori, Glasgow

Chef of the Year
Matin Khan at Itihaas, Edinburgh
Jagtar Singh at Taj Tandoori, Prestwick
Purvaiz Mohammed at Heera, Glasgow
Ajmal Mushtaq at Mushtaqs Restaurant, Hamilton
Bamsi Ram Shrestha at Radhuni, Edinburgh

Healthy Food Provider
Majestic India, Cambuslang
Punjabi Tadka, East Kilbride
Chilli Papas www.chillipapas.com
Shimla Cottage, Coatbridge
Omar Khayyam, Edinburgh

Maitre D’ of the Year
Muhammad Sultan – Charcoals, Glasgow
Mark Singh – Mister Singh’s India, Glasgow
Akbar Ali – Kismot, Edinburgh
Abed Ullah – Taj Mahal, Biggar
Shamy Singh – Spice Lounge, Edinburgh

Best Restaurant Design
Mithas, Edinburgh
Akbar’s, Glasgow
Zyka Bar and Grill, Glasgow
Karma, Whitburn
Bukharah, Glasgow

Best Marketing Campaign
Kismot, Edinburgh
Mushtaqs Restaurant, Hamilton
Charcoals, Glasgow
The Dhabba, Glasgow
Indian Palms, Cambuslang

And that's not the half of it ... as well as the Best of Glasgow and inaugural Best of Edinburgh categories, there are another 16 regional curryhouses nominated in the Restaurant of the Year category (including the Prince of India in the Tramp's old Borders stomping ground), as well as eight finalists from all over Scotland in the Takeaway of the Year category. For the full exhaustive detail, visit the Scottish Curry Awards 2013 Facebook page. The complete list of finalists are also featured in this blog post.

 Best of luck to all the finalists. Just remember: you can make a break, you can win or lose / That's a chance you take, when the heat's on you ...

SOME OTHER RECENT TATTGOC POSTS
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The TATTGOC Mixed Grill Of Spicy News

Thursday, May 23, 2013 | Posted by Trampy |
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 Short but sweet, it's time for a TATTGOC round-up of curry news. Lots of people recently pointed us towards reports that Princess Catherine (nee Kate Middleton) was apparently having mucho preggers cravings for vegetable curry but we're a respectable, award-winning curry blog, not some tabloid gutter rag. We're BETTER THAN THAT! So we're going to stick to the high-class stuff for now, starting with the latest updates from the looming Scottish Curry Awards 2013 ...
A carnival atmosphere: McKie's in the middle

 As you probably know, the Scottish Curry Awards will take place on June 10 at a central Glasgow location, and while the finalists in each category are just about to be announced, we can reveal a few juicy tidbits. The 2013 awards will now apparently include a "Best of Edinburgh" category, similar to the pre-existing "Best of Glasgow" (most recently won by former TATTGOC target Charcoals). The awards have also confirmed the host for the evening, award-winning DJ Liz McKie, who presents an evening show syndicated across Clyde FM, Forth FM, Radio Borders and the rest of the Bauer Network. There have been some memorable Scottish Curry Awards hosts in the past – who can forget Andy Cameron complimenting/making fun of The Tramp's beard in 2010? – but McKie is a dedicated pro, which is a good sign. So roll on June 10, and keep up-to-date with everything that's happening at the Scottish Curry Awards 2013 by keeping an eye on www.lovecurry.info
You will not see this expression because you will be wearing a blindfold


 A little later in June, Merchant City restaurant KoolBa is hosting a special "dining in the dark" event with Hardeep Singh Kholi, who has been getting decent write-ups for his performances across the UK which combine home cooking and comedy chat. On June 19, he'll be guiding blindfolded KoolBa diners through an epic seven-course journey of Middle Eastern and Indian dishes that promise to transport you from Persia to the Punjab, with your senses working overtime. Certainly, the idea of an official TATTGOC outing where everyone wears a blindfold is quite appealing. Tickets for this very special KoolBa event cost £30 and should be bought in advance from the restaurant. You can follow those guys on Twitter at www.twitter.com/KoolBa
From the Guardian review: "I actually ate more of this than I strictly needed to, which speaks volumes"

Here at TATTGOC, we're more likely to head out to an amazing local curryhouse or whip up an breathtaking curry from scratch in TATTGOC Towers than pick up our tea from a supermarket. And yet, apparently supermarket meals are having a real impact on the culinary landscape, with a research firm claiming that visits to "ethnic restaurants and takeaways" had dropped by a staggering 123m between 2009 and 2012. The Guardian's excellent Word Of Mouth blog ran its own series of tests, bamming up supermarkets to send over their meal-for-two curry wares and reviewing them in nominally fair-handed, if ultimately pretty withering style. Not sure if we would have used "Better than bog standard curry?" as a recurring motif, but this was a pretty good cousin to our own Tastin' With The Tramps feature. Particularly liked the hilarious, slightly heartbreaking phrase "tiny naans, like children's mittens". You can read the whole sorry tale HERE. 

 That's the end of our news buffet. Next Thursday: the official write-up of TATTGOC's May outing, which sees us return to the city centre ...

 SOME OTHER RECENT TATTGOC POSTS
Exploring #PakoraWednesday With Robert Florence
Dhansaks With Wolves – The City Hungry To Win Curry Capital 2013
Just One Week Left To Vote In The Scottish Curry Awards 2013!
Classic Curry Source: The List Eating And Drinking Guide Hits 20
Mother India: The Movie
A Spicy Bite Before My Bloody Dhalentine
We've Got The Skinny On The Scottish Curry Awards 2013
The Tramps Go Trippin' With Tony Singh
Valentine's Curry: The Vindalook Of Love
Sam Thing's Happening Here ... And Team Tramp Is Cooking Up A Storm
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Exploring #PakoraWednesday With Robert Florence

Thursday, May 16, 2013 | Posted by Trampy |
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Burnistoun's Quality Polis tuck into some quality pakora (the kitchen was spotless)

It started, as so many things do these days, with a tweet. Robert Florence – gifted writer, versatile comic actor, self-proclaimed gamesmaster, wrestling evangelist, Prince superfan and perhaps North Glesga's foremost selfie merchant – announced his latest crowdsourced happening to his 34,500 or so followers on Sunday May 12.



Like his comedy peer Limmy, Florence occasionally uses Twitter as a mass dispersal wind-up device on a touchscreen hairtrigger. But when it comes to things he loves, he loves them with a naked, almost disarming passion. And despite moulding himself into a sinewy weapon for his forthcoming Kelvin Brawl smackdown, the dude loves pakora. It featured heavily in Burnistoun's Quality Polis sketches, and halfway through his videogame house party/chatshow Empty at Glasgow Film Festival 2013, trays of Mother India's finest pakora were passed among the appreciative crowd.

 So #PakoraWednesday looked like being a thing, with Florence issuing encouragement over Twitter, and laying out some ground rules. On Wednesday May 15, participants would phone their local Indian takeaway and order some pakora of their choice, then discuss what arrived, sharing their opinions and pics using the #PakoraWednesday hashtag, although some folk struggled with the 9pm starting gun.



For the inaugural event, Florence ordered from the Star five-in-one takeaway in Burmulloch, and even snapped a pic with his delivery female. We won't embarrass her by reproducing it here, but, seriously, check out the size of the Star portions. Muckle.

Most people got into the spirit of the event. Check out this formidable Marmaris payload. 



The recently opened Afghan Village on the Southside got a thumbs-up too.



 As Twitter is also an inherently voyeuristic medium, there were also glimpses of some nice plates.



 It was a frank and open forum to exchange views – a place for jokes, for criticism, for declarations, even accusations. Haggis vs mushroom vs chicken. There was absurdity ...




 ... and what seemed like genuine anger.




 There were also some pretty incredible home-made efforts. We liked this one.



 And Takeaway Secret author Kenny McGovern shared an interesting-looking recipe.



Unfortunately, the Tramps themselves were unable to take part – TATTGOC-affiliated fitba takes place on Wednesday nights and after the demands of high-tempo five-a-side it's all they can do to move, let alone eat. The three-hour games also take over the whole night. The Tramp did share his all-time pakora recommendation though.



 For the full story, simply search the #PakoraWednesday hashtag and click "all tweets", allowing you to relive the event practically in real time. But will this be a one-off or a continuing weekly or monthly event, especially with Florence's wrestling date looming next month? Let's leave the last word to @choobanicus.



SOME OTHER RECENT TATTGOC POSTS
Dhansaks With Wolves – The City Hungry To Win Curry Capital 2013
Just One Week Left To Vote In The Scottish Curry Awards 2013!
Classic Curry Source: The List Eating And Drinking Guide Hits 20
Mother India: The Movie
A Spicy Bite Before My Bloody Dhalentine
We've Got The Skinny On The Scottish Curry Awards 2013
The Tramps Go Trippin' With Tony Singh
Valentine's Curry: The Vindalook Of Love
Sam Thing's Happening Here ... And Team Tramp Is Cooking Up A Storm
The Scots Serving Up Curry Around The World
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