Big Screen Samosas: Tollywood News

News from the film industry, as Tollywood reports that award-winning actor Sri Hari is producing, directing and starring in a new street-food based comedy feature. Tea Samosa Biscuit. In an interview, Sri Hari explained that the movie centres on the idea that "there are many pubs, hotels and restaurants in Hyderabad, but there are not many hotels for Irani tea, which is quite famous in the city." I'm really hoping the film will also shed light on the city's samosa offerings.

Filming has begun, but no release date has been set. Be sure to keep checking the Samosa Diaries for further updates.

The Old Man and the Sea

Two Brothers Fish Restaurant, Regent's Park Road, Finchley Central, London N3

'Oh, help us out lads, an English comedian... what's his name... very funny.... sweats a lot...' said the elderly gentleman.

'He needs it for a story....' said a second man in the queue, turning to us.

'Ohh... not... Lee Evans?' I offered.

'Yes that's his name! Lee Evans! I used to work with his dad on the boats.'

'Oh yeah...'

'Yeah. Sailed all over I did...' And off he went, telling us tales of his adventures on the seven seas working his board on cruiseliners. He'd been everywhere. North America, South America, around the coastline of Africa, Australia, the far East. Working as a porter, catering for the cruising classes (the retired and loaded). It sounded like high jinx on the high seas.

'Cod & chips!' called out the cook from behind the shiny metalic fryers. The old man sprinkled on his salt & vinegar.

'See you later boys, enjoy yourselves!' and he bopped out into the misty Saturday night.

If it's good enough for him, I thought, it'll do for me. My fishcake and chips came next.

I would hazard it's the best chip shop in London. The stock comes in direct from the sea via Bilingsgate each day, and your dinner is always cooked to order. Fresh, and highly rated by north London folk. It's by no means the cheapest, but it'll guarantee you'll never pick up something that's been sweating all day under the spotlight counter. None of that slimey yellow batter, no oven chips (!), and not a soggy spring roll in sight.

The last time I ate a Samosa I went insane

I was in Leeds on Sunday, mooching about, when I had a strange encounter.

Strolling down the Brudenell Road with some friends, we heard faint rumblings of drumming coming from inside the beautiful old Hyde Park Picture House. Wondering what it could be, we poked our heads around the stage-left door and marvelled up at what we saw. Standing there on stage, holding a guitar, was non other than anti-folk hero Jeffrey Lewis, band in tow, soundchecking for a show there that night. After a brief exchange between us and him (ie. us staring up, Jeffrey looking baffled), we decided to move on and see what the local samosa scene was all about.

So we dropped in at the multi-purpose takeaway named Zulfi's Kebabs/Fat Tony's Pizza, which sits right opposite the Picture House. It's unclear how Zulfi and Fat Tony came to sharing one shop space, possibly they were former rivals that joined forces to attempt blanket coverage of the Leeds student takeaway market. The signage certainly suggests this: Fat Tony's lettering and logo dwells on its pizza operation (stuffed crust, etc), whislt the neon of Zulfi's focuses on the more exotic allure of hot and spicy foodstuffs. This welded operation means that under one roof one can order everything from cheeseburgers and calzones to nuggets and nachos; they even serve up a bizarre option of a pizza topped with french fries. Very tempting late at night if you're pissed.

Onto the Samosa offerings. I was impressed by the array of sundries, and opted for the box of starters which consists of a vegetable samosa, two onion bhajis, and two pieces of mushroom bhaji. A standard combination and ideal for sharing (as we did), as a lunch box, or indeed, a starter. It's a decent portion. Thin and crispy pastry for the samosas, with a limited range of filling but with a healthy and fair level of spice. The bhajis also were flavoursome but not too greasy (which they often can be in takeaways). Moreover, the food was piping hot amd hit the spot nicely. With all this for a mere £3, I felt great.

You sometimes get a sense that eateries offering a so many takeaway options may suffer a touch of the 'Jack-of-all-Trades' syndrome. If the way the friendly staff took time over the samosa is anything to go by, Fat Tony's takes equal pride in all its offerings. A good review.

Zulfi's Hot Spot/Fat Tony's, Brundenell Road, Leeds, LS6