1st April 2018

The Kari Club | Indian recipe box

Chef Minesh Agnihtori, founder of Brighton’s Indian Summer, has launched the UK’s first Indian recipe box, The Kari Club, giving foodies an opportunity to explore the cuisine at home.

Indian food has long been a favourite of mine, ever since I was lucky enough to visit Goa about 10 years ago. Sizzling dishes of vibrant and aromatic combinations, my eyes were opened at the age of 16 to just how exciting food can be. When it came to recreating such recipes, though, I never felt confident enough to attempt them at home, and the long ingredients lists always put me off somewhat.

So when I was offered an opportunity to try out a new Indian recipe box*, I was really excited by the challenge. Not only is The Kari Club the UK’s very first recipe box of its kind, it delivers every ingredient you need, including fresh spices from India and locally sourced meat – straight from the butcher that day.

How does The Kari Club work?

Boxes are available for 1, 2 or 4 people, priced at £20, £25 and £40 respectively. The subscription is one box a month, although you are not tied into anything and can cancel at any time or pause the order.

Getting started

My meal for 2 that night would consist of Mamaji Chicken, a side of sweet potato and carrot thoran, chapatis and basmati rice. Quite the feast!

When I got my box home, I excitedly unpackaged everything and looked over what I had to work with. A really handy recipe sheet comes inside, detailing every ingredient and adding a few tips here and there from Minesh so as to help you speed up the process, such as rinsing the rice through whilst the main dish simmers. I took advice to sit and read through this before starting, so I felt comfortable with what I was doing.

Generally, the recipe was simple to follow and I didn’t run into any complications throughout. There were a few quantities in the instructions that didn’t quite match up to the ingredients on the back, but I managed to figure it out. Taking between 60-90mins in total (I’m quite a slow cook so this took me closer to the 90 mark), I found the process pretty soothing. Toward the end however, I’d gotten slightly flustered when my kitchen sides were covered in most of the appliances I owned! In hindsight, I wish I’d prepared my ingredients in advance but had decided to follow the recipe as I went along.

Verdict?

Whilst not perfect, I was so pleased with how everything turned out and was obsessed with how tasty the Mamaji Chicken was. The dish was so tender and packed with a spicy (but not too hot) flavour, I almost couldn’t believe I’d made this myself!

When it came to serving, I realised the amount of food we had would comfortably have fed another person, if not two. The Thoran, though really enjoyable, was sadly far too much for us to eat alongside the chicken, rice and chapatis. I suppose this depends on the size of fresh ingredients you receive in the box – and my sweet potato was humungous!

For £25 a month (a box for 2) to create an authentic Indian feast in your own home, I think The Kari Club is a brilliant idea. It’s not too often that you feel you can’t commit, but you can also amend your order if you don’t want a box each month. It’s so handy having everything you need delivered to you in one go, saving running around the shops looking for particular ingredients, also helping to combat both food and packaging waste.

If you’re having guests over, this would make a really impressive home-cooked menu for entertaining, with the larger box working out at just £10 per person! You wouldn’t get all of that from a takeaway now, would you?

Special offer! 50% off your first box

If you’d like to try a box, you can get your first one half the usual price if ordered before Friday 6th April using the code ‘EASTER’ at the checkout. A perfect opportunity to give authentic Indian cooking a go and share a wholesome meal with the family!

You can find out more about The Kari Club and the April subscription box over on the website. Minesh also has some very handy tutorial videos that you can watch before making a decision or getting started on your recipe.