Fancy a five course authentic Indian dinner at Chloe’s in Charlbury? Thought so, then get your tickets for Nandita Wadhwa‘s first ever pop up here
A date has now been set for the ‘Curry Nights With Nandita’ – a five course Punjabi pop up on March 2 with tickets are already flying out the door. So what can people expect?
‘I want my food to be eaten by as many people as possible, so yes, let’s hope this is the start of something’
Vegetable pakoras and papadums served with chutneys including Nandita’s infamous mint and coriander chutney. Then tikki chana chaat made with spicy potatoes and aromatic chickpeas, topped with tangy tamarind, onions, crispy sev and cooling yogurt.
Next up free range butter chicken – a Curry Nights favourite, or veggies can pre-order the paneer makhni, both served with steaming extra-long grain basmati rice.
For dessert, revel in some delicious, warm, homemade ‘Gulab Jamuns’ paired with vanilla ice cream, using saffron, cardamom, rose and topped with nuts, and end the evening with a home-made Masala Chai, crafted with traditional Indian spices. All for £45 a head!
‘My dream is to reach more people with my food, so doing a pop-up seems like a natural step’
Nandita Wadhwa launched her weekly Thursday night curry takeaways from her home in Heyford Park in 2021, after becoming frustrated with the lack of authentic Indian food on offer in Oxfordshire.
“When we first started ‘Curry Nights With Nandita’ we had no idea whether we’d have any orders at all,” she says, “so we just offered one curry with rice and a parantha (a flaky bread) and it took off straight away. Now we have a much bigger selection and the menu changes weekly.”
‘Avid curry lovers travel from as far afield as Bicester, Duns Tew, Middle Barton and Steeple Aston to sample her delicious Punjab food’
Avid curry lovers travel from as far afield as Bicester, Duns Tew, Middle Barton and Steeple Aston to sample her delicious Punjab food, and Nandita was quickly spotted by Chloe Horner, of Chloe’s in Charlbury, keen to collaborate with dynamic local chefs.
And it’s easy to see why, Nandita’s food being passed down from generation to generation, having watched her grand-mother and mother cook with love.
‘I just want to replicate the kind of authentic Indian food we would eat at home or at a friends house’
Born and brought up in Punjab, Nandita moved here aged 18 to study and soon got bored of her staple student diet of beans on toast and fast food. Skyping her mother and grand-mother in India, Nandita soon learnt to make the food she so craved, a passion that still drives her to this day.
“I would always look forward to coming home from work and making a meal from scratch. It’s what I enjoy, in the same way I used to look forward to eating my lunchbox at school, because it was always delicious and all my friends always wanted some,” she smiles.
‘Food was always a big deal in my house, and we made everything from scratch’
“Food was always a big deal in my house, and we made everything from scratch. Punjab food is North Indian so uses less oil and more ghee – dishes like butter chicken or karai – and my mother would take great pride in my enjoyment of her food.
“I just want to replicate that – the kind of authentic Indian food we would eat at home or at a friends house, and the response has been amazing. It gives me a great feeling that people like eating my food so much.”
I’t gives me a great feeling that people like eating my food so much’
So how does Nandita feel about expanding her remit to a restaurant like Chloe’s? “My dream is to reach more people with my food, so doing a pop-up seems like a natural step, and, as we hate wasting food, Chloe’s sustainable ethos really suits us.
“I just want my food to be eaten by as many people as possible, so yes, let’s hope this is the start of something,” she says, “because it’s my passion project and brings me a lot of joy. So it’s really exciting. I just want to make people happy.”
Book ‘Curry Nights With Nandita’ five course Punjabi pop up at Chloe’s in Charlbury at 7.30pm on March 2 here: https://www.eventcreate.com/e/curry-nights-with-nandita
