I recently visited the Silent Pool Gin distillery in Surrey (see my blog about our tour) so was very excited to be invited to return so soon for a supper club evening with fellow Silent Pool-based business Mandira’s Kitchen. I’d never been to a supper club before, let alone one hosted at one of my favourite gin distilleries!
Mandira herself was our host for the evening, transporting us to India and giving us a guided tour around the country with tales of her experiences growing up there. Each of the six courses of the evening took inspiration from a different area, and expertly paired with a gin-based cocktail accompaniment by the Silent Pool Gin team.
The lovely Mandira welcomed us in to the festively decorated marquee outside the distillery where we were joined by around 30 other guests all on one horseshoe shaped table together. There’s something particularly lovely about experiencing a culinary adventure like this in a group.
Our first stop of the tour was Calcutta and we were presented with a trio of starters: puchkas, matar kachouri chaat, and palak pyaj pakora. What an incredible combinations of flavours and textures to start. These were paired with a beautiful take on a bellini with passionfruit puree and local Albury Seyval Blanc sparkling wine from the neighbouring vineyard – delicious!
Stop two led us to Darjeeling, where Mandira grew up, with some pork momos (dumplings) with a lovely tomato and garlic sauce and tales of her school days. The drink pairing was one of my favourites of the evening: darjeeling tea infused Winter Gin (the latest of the small batch gins produced at the distillery), Angostura bitters, and tonic water.
Bombay was next and we had the most succulent patrani macchi fish wrapped in a banana leaf with rice, which had been infused with Indian five spice. Pairing with this was a coconut water gimlet (50ml Silent Pool Gin, 25ml lime cordial, 150ml coconut water). I’m not the biggest fan of coconut water, but it definitely worked with the fish and was light enough while complementing the flavours well.
After that it was north to Lucknow for a smoked lamb kebab which melted in my mouth, served with a homemade paratha and some sharp pickled vegetables. What else could go with lamb than a Silent Pool take on the mojito with fresh mint! Some fresh coriander garnish really helped to tie the refreshing cocktail in with the north Indian course.
For the main course we headed to Hydrebad. Mandira and her team had prepared a huge chicken biryani which they stirred infront of us and served with a beetroot raita and poppadoms. It was such an exciting moment as it came through, with the gorgeous smell quickly flooding the wintery marquee. As we were onto the main event for the food, Silent Pool brought out their classic G&T to go alongside it in their eyecatching copa glasses (which we got to take home afterwards!).
Last but by no means least it was off to Delhi for a trio of desserts: gajar halwa (sweet carrot puree), gulab jamun (fried dough balls) and spiced pineapple. Our closing cocktail of the evening was a rose and cardamom sour using the distillery’s own rose gin: 50ml Silent Pool English Rose Gin, 20ml lemon juice, 15ml cardamom syrup, 25ml egg whites, dash of orange bitters and a spritz of bergamot orange mist.
It was brilliant to experience something so fun and different, while learning about the cuisines of India, meeting new people and supporting two independent businesses.
You can find out more about Mandira’s Kitchen cooking events and future supper clubs on her website, and more about visiting the Silent Pool distillery on theirs.
Gifted: Please note that my wife and I were invited to attend this event free of charge, but that the opinions within this blog are mine alone.