Kerb does Alchemy 2017: The Halal

KERB does Alchemy: The Halal

Want to have one last epic food-filled week before Ramadan comes along? Head down to Kerb does Alchemy at Southbank Centre. Theres an array of street-food vendors serving up South Asian treats. Of course, I’ve done the hard (and delicious) work for you guys, so read on to find out which stalls serve halal and are worth the visit!

Check out that big Indian mama! This is Baba G’s Lamb jalfrezi burger [£8.00], and it was beautiful. The lamb patties were infused with a variety of spices, most notably was the coriander, and cooked to a juicy, succulent medium, before being topped with a crispy onion bhaji and placed in a sweet onion seeded bun.

Sonita’s Kitchen serve up healthy, light and gluten free curries that steer away from the traditional oily dishes. Their vegan options looked really good too.

Kolkati’s treat their parathas to a generous slick of ghee, and fill them to the brim with a fried egg, masala chicken, and a few condiments to finish it off. I found the masala chicken to be a little lacking in flavour on its own, but it was balanced out nicely with the cooling raita and sweet tamarind ketchup.

A popular Sri Lankan street food concept that I have tried previously. Kothu Kothu use a hot griddle pan and chop up roti, chicken/lamb curry, egg, and shredded colourful vegetables, and throw it all into a box for you. It’s messy, but it’s goooood.

A popular Indian/Pakistani restaurant based up North in Manchester and Bradford, Zouk are cooking up both chicken and paneer tikka on a bed of charcoal.

Having been around since 1979, Guptas started off as a retail store selling both Indian snacks and sweet confectionaries, and are now doing street food. They have an array of goodies from chaat to curry boxes and naan wraps to jelebis.

Known as serving “Grandma-approved Pakistani street food”, Bun Kebab are known for their buttery rolls stuffed with pulled chicken or their slow cooked beef. I would have liked my beef bun to have more of a kick, both in flavour and spice.

I have been DYING to check these guys out and I finally managed to get my hands on one of Rola Wala’s famous and drool-worthy grilled chicken tikka roll [£5.95]. The chicken was super tender with a great smoky flavour from the grill, and the additional scorpion chilli jam [£0.25] added an incredible sweet and spicy kick to the soft roll. For those of you watching the weight, the rolls are under 500 calories! One of my absolute favourite stands of the day!

Another favourite stall of the day. Ash, of The Cheeky Indian, puts his own cheeky twist on traditional Indian dishes, making him stand out amongst the others and serving something deliciously different. The Beijing Booty wrap [£8.00] is an absolute killer; low and slow 5 hour cooked, crispy pulled lamb topped with sweet hoisin sauce and finished off with cucumber and spring onions. The combination of mouth-meltingly soft lamb and the sweetness of the plum sauce was ridiculously good, and I can’t wait to try out his other options.

The Curry Shack are offering three different types of chicken curries, from mild to hot.

Operated by a young and fun couple, Indian Street Kitchen serve chicken tikka tacos [£7.00] and a fabulous lamb raan burger [£7.00]. The leg of lamb had been slow cooked for up to six hours, and marinated overnight with a variety of spices to give a superb and mouth-wateringly soft pulled lamb. It had then been topped with crunchy onions, sour cream, and a wasabi-jalapeno mayonnaise and placed in a buttery sweet brioche roll.

Karachi Khao, a new Karachi street vendor, focuses mainly on Khao Sueys, a creamy coconut noodle soup filled with all kinds of goodies. I opted for the chicken Khao Suey with ALL the toppings (garlic prawns, eggs, chillies, everything), and found it to be incredibly creamy and rich, but I wish the chicken had more flavour and was spicier.

Another Pakistani food concept that has hit the street food scene, the guys at Curry Cookhouse serve up soft malai chicken tikka, lamb kebabs, and pakora in soft and fluffy naans, all wrapped up with an assortment of sauces. All wraps are £6.

Fully Vegetarian:

– Chaatit

– Horn OK please

– Dosa Deli

– Spice Box

– The Peckish Peacock

Non-halal

– Ladle and Skilet

– Anna Maes

Desserts

Sadly, Nonnas Gelato and Vicky’s Donuts were not present on the first day but they will be dishing out cardamom spiced banana with cashew crunch gelato and chocolate chilli pudding doughnuts.

Blu Top is a super cute ice-cream van with the most innovative flavours: cardamom + jaggery, mango lassi, cinnamon chai tea, curry coconut and the classic vanilla bean.

I decided to be a little indulgent and have the mango lassi ice cream cookie sandwich [£5.00] topped with a delectable drizzle of salted caramel sauce (you know, for some pizzaz). The ice cream was super creamy and tasted exactly like the mango lassi you find at any lahore!

Drinks

Whilst I did not have the chance to try out the Ethiopian Coffee Co or the popular Teala, I did have a taster of some of the other beverage options.

Squareroot London have an array of different flavoured sodas that are light and refreshing. The alphonso mango and lime superb and i felt like I was drinking alphonso mango from a straw

Chaigaram is a cool social concept aimed to help refugees who have come to London, by providing employment and giving them the courage to integrate into society. As well as serving both piping hot and cold chais (think iced chai tea and warm masala chai), they also send their chai syrup and tea blends at the stall.

It’s a great food-filled event with an abundance of halal options that are really worth trying out. Be sure to check out Rola Wala, Cheeky Indian, and any of the dessert options available! You can find this event at the Southbank Centre and it will continue until the 29th of May, so squeeze in an evening (ends at 21:00) after work this week before Ramadan starts!