flashfried

What have poppadums ever done for us?

Bran and I went out for a dirty cuzza the other night. It wasn’t just any old curry house, it was the Sundarban Tandoori in Greenford, which might not sound like a very auspicious location to visit - and it isn’t - but it does happen to play host to the finest Anglo-Indian dining in North London, period. I will wax lyrical about this fantastic place in another post (I didn’t have my camera on me).

Anyhoos, it got me to thinking: what good are poppadums exactly? I mean, aren’t they just big crisps? I ask this because Bran had about four of the feckers, complete with the usual attendant pickles and sauces, and, although I have been quite partial to the odd spoonful of lime pickle in my time, I saw no need to load up on pre-carbs before we moved on to classics like prawn puri which comes on bread, not to mention the nan sides.

Of course, Bran was full up by the time the mains came, which he always is to be fair, and i cannot carp, being the main beneficiary of his useless staying power at the table. But I can’t help thinking that if we just eschewed the poppadums altogether, and moved straight on to the reason we actually came to the place, viz the amazing curries, he might have enjoyed the experience that bit more.

To wit: poppadums are vacuous, bland, uninspiring filler-food. Try passing on them next time you order, and notice how much more of the real stuff you want to try instead. Oh, unless they happen to look like the version snapped below, which is how they came in Rasa on Stoke Newington Church Street. They were quite cool.