Olive Green Kitchen

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date of visit: Sunday 5 January 2014

Let’s not beat about the bush – Olive Green Kitchen, a tiny Indian restaurant in Belair gets a bit of a caning on Urbanspoon. Something of a veteran user of crowd sourced reviews, I know to take them with a pinch of salt and to discard reviews at either end of the spectrum and to give less weight to those reviews which are the contributor’s only contribution to a site.

Even so, I ummed and aahed about Olive Green, particularly because so many of the dismissive reviews came from customers who had used a group buying voucher … which was exactly what I intended to buy. In the end, we decided that $39 for dinner was worth the gamble.

If you’re a long time reader, you’ll know that not only do I love a bit of a bargain but I also regard vouchers and deals as excellent ways of gaining the true measure of a venue. If a restaurant is any good, then the management will be taking the opportunity to convert people into return customers. A rubbish experience? Well, they’ve got your money once, but the damage is done – and the chances are you’ll tell your friends.

One of the Urbanspoon criticisms is that people have found it very hard to book tables with their vouchers. The voucher I purchased had both a very narrow booking window and a very narrow using window, which was complicated by bookings closing on 27 December. I did have to ring a couple of times (and, forewarned, I did actually make note of when I called!) and I did find that my call wasn’t returned but I did make a booking without quite the hassle I was expecting.

Now, as we were dining out with the toddler in tow, we made our booking for 5:30pm on a Sunday so when we arrived the restaurant was empty and we had no problem with slow service. We were seated, our orders were taken promptly and food arrived in a timely fashion. How things function at a busier time, I cannot say.

The voucher we had bought entitled us to a shared entrée, with main courses of our choice served with rice and naan, desserts and glasses of wine (you can see why we were prepared to risk $39 on the exercise!). The great thing about this kind of deal is that we can share the entrée with the toddler and not need to buy him his own main course.

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The platter consisted of onion bhajis, pakoras, chicken tikka, seekh kebab and fish amritsari. This was generally pretty good – it was let down by the fish amritsari which was really quite bland and also watery (I’d put money on it being frozen fish) and the chicken was a little dry, but the seekh kebab was a big hit with the toddler and we both enjoyed the bhajis and pakoras. The platter was served with a simple salad (that was a lot better than the sad lettuce leaf that often accompanies these things!) and some mint chutney and mango chutney.

For main course, I chose the beef masala. Well, I say ‘chose’ – in reality, the toddler announced he wanted beef and this looked like a reasonably mild choice (he’s not quite up to a vindaloo!). Andy picked the lamb roganjosh. OUr main courses came with rice, naan and, of course, we were munching our way through pappadums.

The main courses were really good. The meat was tender, the two sauces were not only different heats but also tasted different, and while the portion sizes weren’t massive, they were certainly ample. The naan wasn’t bad at all (perhaps not quite as puffy and crisp as it is in some places) but the pappadums were a little greasy. Overall, it was a more than fair spread of food.

Our deal also included dessert which is not normally something I’d for. In the past I’ve found Indian sweets far too sweet and, anyway, by the time I’ve scoffed a curry and a naan I’m always far too full to consider it.

But, this time, in the interests of ‘research’ I stretched myself. OUr waitress brought three mango kulfis to the table: umbrella shaped ice creams that sat atop little handles to stop the drips. The toddler thought it was Christmas (an ice cream shaped like an umbrella? whooooooah!) and even I really enjoyed it. Given this is my only experience of mango kulfi, I’m not sure I should pass judgement on how excellent or otherwise it was – but it was extremely tasty!

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For $39 we thought our dinner was excellent value for money. We’d be happy to go back, either on a deal like this, or just as ‘normal’ customers (admittedly, we’d probably just have mains in that case).

This restaurant illustrates perfectly why you need to exercise just a touch of critical thinking when using social review sites. After all, there’s nothing quite like finding out for yourself …

Olive Green Kitchen
Shop 1a 16 Main Rd
Belair SA 5052
phone: 08 8278 8366

Olive Green Kitchen on Urbanspoon

BBQ Lamb Skewers

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Here in Adelaide we’re having something of a ‘hot’ week … today we hit 44.2°C and I spent the morning at a local pool wearing out my small child. It appears to have worked, as he then slept for over a couple of hours, which is the most sensible activity for pretty much anyone at the moment!

It’s actually too hot to contemplate barbecuing (we tried last night and Andy melted into a little puddle …) but by the time Saturday rolls around, this weather will be a distant memory and summer will be back on an even keel with temperatures in the high twenties/low thirties and that is perfect BBQ weather.

I have had this recipe tagged for ages – but wasn’t able to make it because we’ve had something of a time tracking down szechuan pepper. Andy sourced me some for Christmas so you can now expect to see szechuan pepper in almost everything.

The original recipe calls these Xinjiang skewers. On reading the recipe, I thought it sounded remarkably Uyghur like (yes, my whole one Uyghur restaurant experience qualified me to have that thought!) and it turns out that Xinjiang (or, more formally, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) is the province in China in which most Uyghur live.

There you go – recipes and a bit of geography/politics to boot!

Tone down (or dial up) the chilli or szechuan pepper to suit. We found that the quantities given worked well (and weren’t so spicy that our toddler couldn’t make a fair first of things either). And, of course, you can always substitute chicken (or other BBQ friendly meat) for the lamb.

The marinade has the bonus of being extremely quick and easy to make and versatile. It is also great to make ahead to take to BBQs – beats supermarket snags with almost no effort!

We’ve given this recipe a couple of outings already. The first time we made it, we had no skewers (long story) so there was no point in photographing it. It would have been ‘lamb on a plate’. For that – see my interpretation (via Elizabeth David) of the Greek arni souvlaki.

Don’t want to print? Download the lamb skewers recipe as a pdf!

BBQ Lamb Skewers

Ingredients

  • 1 kg lamb shoulder, cut into large bite sized chunks
  • 2 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp chilli flakes
  • 1 tbsp ground black pepper (as freshly ground as possible)
  • 1 tsp ground szechuan pepper
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 4 tbsp peanut oil (or other neutral flavoured oil)
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely crushed
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Combine all the ingredients (bar the lamb) to make a marinade, and then mix the lamb through with your hands, ensuring that it's evenly coated with the marinade.
  2. Cover with cling film and leave to marinate for as long as possible - preferably overnight but if you're in a real hurry, half an hour will do.
  3. Heat a grill or BBQ and thread the cubes of lamb onto skewers. If using bamboo skewers, be sure to soak them for at least an hour before using so that they don't splinter and don't catch on fire!
  4. Cook the skewers, turning frequently, until the lamb is done to your liking.
  5. Serve with plenty of salad.
https://eatingadelaide.com/bbq-lamb-skewers/

Nepalese Lamb Chops

Nepalese Lamb Chops

Regular readers will know that last year, in particular, I ate more Nepalese than average. That means I went to two Nepalese restaurants. But seriously, how many have you been to?!

Despite really enjoying the food on both occasions, this isn’t a cuisine I’ve ventured into in the kitchen. So when I spotted a recipe for lamb chhoeyla (Nepalese grilled lamb) in Mums Still Know Best by the Hairy Bikers I thought I’d give it a go.  I actually made this late last year and I’m quite glad it’s taken me so long to blog it because if you’re in a part of Australia where it’s sweltering (it’s almost cracked 41°C today here in Adelaide) then you might be after something different to do on the BBQ …

I took a few short cuts with this but it was absolutely fantastic. You could leave out either the sauce or the marinade. For example, if you were doing a BBQ and catering for a variety of tastes, omit the marinade and serve the sauce on the side. Cooking for people who like spicy food but you’re running short on time? Ditch the sauce. Or just make the sauce and serve it on the side of, well, um, anything really. We had a little left over and used it in a stir fry the next day.

Talk about versatile!

This is all easy-peasy but you do need to allow a little time for marinading and making the sauce. And, of course, this is spicy so not ideal for any chilli-averse guests!

Don’t want to print? Download a pdf of the recipe.

Nepalese Lamb Chops (Lamb Chhoeyla)

Ingredients

  • 4-5 lamb chops
  • Marinade
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp chilli paste (I used a Szechuan chutney)
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp ginger paste
  • pinch asafoetida
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • Chhoeyla Sauce
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds, toasted
  • 1 red chilli, roughly chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2.5 cm piece of ginger
  • pinch asafoetida
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil - use some mustard oil for an extra spice hit

Instructions

    Marinade
  1. To make the marinade, mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Add the lamb chops and ensure they are well coated. Cover the bowl with cling film and set aside for at least a couple of hours.
  2. Sauce
  3. Place all ingredients in a blender and process until you have a smooth paste. Season with salt and pepper and adjust thickness (depending on how you want to use it!) with oil.
  4. Cook the lamb - either on the BBQ or using a griddle. Baste with any left over marinade.
  5. When the lamb is cooked to your liking, you can either chop it up (especially if boneless) and mix it through the sauce or you can serve it with the sauce on the side.
https://eatingadelaide.com/nepalese-lamb-chops/