Monday 12 October 2015

Sanskruti

Whether you live in Manchester, are visiting for a weekend, or simply just passing through, you NEED to head to Sanskruti.

All credit to my Sister-in-Law on this one who was looking for a restaurant to take a vegetarian friend and happened to stumble across this hidden gem. The menu is entirely vegetarian with a hefty amount of vegan options too - my attempt at going vegan would've maybe lasted longer than 3 days had I known about this place! Now, before you all turn your nose up at this for the lack of meat, I can solemnly say that my own Dad claimed he could become veggie after going here; something I don't think anyone thought he'd ever say (name and contact details available on request for those who don't believe me). 

"Sanskruti" literally translates to mean Tradition or Culture. It is obvious why they have called the restaurant this when you see the menu - if you're expecting to see Kormas or Tikka Masalas then you can jog on up the road to the curry house. Sanskruti serve up authentic and traditional dishes, reminiscent of the Indian sub-continent. The menu is HUGE. Check out their website here to see the full load but carry on reading to see a snapshot of dishes I've provided (I'm nice like that). First up, starters:







Aubergine and paneer with a few pomegranate seeds thrown in.
Added bonus is that it's gluten free. For those who don't know, paneer is a cheese which can be cooked without melting. Think of halloumi and you're on the right sort of track!











Mushrooms sauteed in an indo-chinese mix of garlic and ginger with mixed vegetables.















Tandoori Paneer Tikka. Has the tikki flavour that most are familiar with but with the not so common combination of paneer. Worth a try.














Masala Dosa. This is a traditional South Indian dish consisting of a fermented crepe made from rice batter and lentils, with a potato based filling. This one came with a mango chutney and an amazing coconut cream condiment.










Next up, mains and sides:






Mushroom Palak. This was a flavoursome combination of mushroom and spinach cooked in a mildly spicy "green gravy". Nothing too overpowering here so was a general crowd pleaser.












Kaju Khoya. This is a cashew-based dish consisting of stir fried cashews (obviously) in a creamy cashew and khoya based sauce. Khoya is basically evaporated milk solids - hence the richness. It wasn't too dissimilar from a Korma sauce although without the coconut.












Bhindi Masala. An okra based dish which packs a punch. Eat with caution. Or just have a cold beer at the ready!















Sev Tameta Nu Shaak. A tomato based dish cooked with cumin and ginger, topped with sev (vermicelli to you and me). I wasn't a massive fan of this as I'm not overly keen on tomato as a main ingredient but I seemed to be the only one with this opinion! A mild dish so no red faces to worry about.










Ringan Tameta. Aubergine and tomatoes cooked in gujarati spices. This was full of flavour considering aubergines can be quite bland.









On top of all the above, we also had a side of dahl, a HUGE hanging naan bread, two desserts and five pints of Cobra. The grand total? £95. Yep... a three-course meal with sides and drinks for 5 people for under twenty quid each. Fan-bloody-tastic. Now, don't get me wrong. I absolutely love London and don't plan on leaving our beloved capital anytime soon. But I don't even want to think what the cost of this meal would've been had it been based here! Sanskruti is authentic, unpretentious and all about the food. An absolute must.

Nic
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