Asma runs an all woman kitchen, providing employment opportunities with single shift scheduling enabling women who otherwise would not be able to work due to time commitments.
Darjeeling Express is shut on Sundays, so the staff can spend time with their families, unless Asma runs one of her occasional biryani supperclubs. She now offers her kitchen and premises to other women who want to try running a supperclub out of a professional kitchen. What a wonderful, supportive way to encourage new entrepreneurs. And what a fantastic way for us customers to get to try new styles of cooking.
Our first supperclub experience (after 3 whole years of living in London) was Philippino Cuisine at Mae's - Pepe's Kitchen. I'm now constantly on the lookout for supper clubs that offer authentic homestyle cooking, especially those cuisines that are under represented in the restaurant arena.
Wincie Wong's Burmese Supper club on Mothers Day, was a fantastic fit to what I was looking for. She promised to cook some of her Mothers favourite dishes for the day. What a wonderful way to honour, remember and celebrate her memory.
When we arrived, there was a bowl of Burmese spiced nuts awaiting us on the table, made by Wincie herself. So moreish, we could not stop eating them until the bowl was wiped clean. Being in public, we restrained ourselves, from the next step.
The first course was Palata with Burmese Chicken & Potato Curry - the famous Burmese "thousand layer bread" called Palata was a favourite in her household growing up. It was served with a bright chicken curry made with flavours of turmeric, ginger and lemongrass. This dish was a cross between a paratha and a samosa. As much stuffing as a nice plump samosa, but the dough was more like a paratha. I'd say the closest I have come to something like this in Indian cusisine is the Hyderabadi lukmi.
It was served with a side of pickled radish/mooli and cucumber. The sweet tartness of the pickles and their crisp texture, was a wonderful contrast to the fried palatas.
The main dish was the Mohinga. One of the most famous dishes of Burma, usually eaten for breakfast, surprisingly it is not as well known as khao suey outside of Burma. Mohinga is a fish (fish balls actually) stew with rice noodles served with all the trimmings: yellow split pea crackers (beh kyaw), hardboiled eggs, coriander, chili flakes and a wedge of lime. Each diner, mixes their choice of toppings on the noodles and stew. Then you can either mix it all up so that the flavours mingle and diffuse, or sprinkle a little at a time on each spoon.
The soup was coconut based, but very light - more soupy than curry. We obviously added a generous amount of chilli, lime and coriander for a powerful kick. The chopped red onions were a good touch too.
Dessert was Coconut Pancakes. I was expecting Asian style thin pancakes, but Wincie's mother (who relocated from Burma to USA) loved eating American style pancakes on the weekend. Wincie's twist on it was Coconut pancakes, served with a warm Jaggery Butter and blueberry (her mothers favourite fruit) compote.
I'm not a fan of the thick American pancakes, I prefer crepes, but these were the right size, the baking soda wasn't over powering and the jaggery in the butter and the compote was absolutely delicious.
This was followed by milky Burmese tea. I don't drink milk with tea, but the husband quite enjoyed this at the end of his meal.
I know that she catered for a vegetarian on the table next to ours. Just check with her, if you have any dietary requirements before booking. She responds very quickly.
There was no shrimp in this menu, but Wincie assured me that she could substitute shrimp or skip it in her 25th March supperclub. Something else came up, so I could not book that supperclub. I do however look forward to her next one.
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