Paajis are the current residents in the kitchen at the Keans Head pub in the Lace Market district of Nottingham. They are working the kitchen as a delivery hub whilst also serving their take on Indian Street Food and curries to the punters insides the pub.

I had already ordered some food from them via Deliveroo but today finally we were here to try some fresh and hot from the stove top.

No-one was having to ride their bike across the river down to my flat in Bridgford tonight 🙂

Added bonus was that I was able to get a pint of excellent beer from the Castle Rock Brewery to sup alongside my curry

CHICKEN CHORIZO DOPIAZA

I picked the Chicken Chorizo Dopiaza which was described on the menu as “Marinated chicken, chorizo and dopiaza sauce with fluffy fragrant rice and a slice of paratha“

Just for the moment I am choosing to gloss over the addition of ‘chorizo’ as that seems so left field that I really am stuck with something to say

It is a pretty chunky sauce and gravy, almost hearty with cubes of chicken breast and slices of onion. What looks like sliced red pepper turned out to be the aforementioned chorizo.

Notes of Ginger and Garlic permeate throughout alongside a fairly mild spicing level of chilli heat. I was expecting a bit more punch but I was happy really that it was reasonably gentle as then I could pick out more flavour.

So that chorizo? maybe it added a bit of sweetness and a little tang in taste when you had a bit spooned up into your mouth? maybe not I could not decide if it was novelty or genius, either way it contributed to a rather nice tasty curry gravy sauce.

This was a really good plate of food and a cut above your average Pub Curry. I liked the unfussy nature of service in the pub while I was still getting restaurant quality food on my plate (or bowl).

SOME BITS OF THE MENU

As well as that Dopiaza (which I had picked) there were a couple of other options that we considered from the Mains section of the menu.

I had been quite tempted by the Pork Butter Vindaloo, more through curiosity than anything else as I saw a few pictures of this on social media and it did look good. I suspect that this is not your average vindaloo and I probably will check one out a different day.

Another dish I had fancied was the Pan Fried Salmon Goan Curry that I had seen on the Deliveroo menu but I could not see it on the pub menu so it was not to be today. Maybe I will have to get a delivery to my table in the pub on another visit.

DELHI BUTTER CHICKEN

The other dish we ordered was the slightly safer option of the Delhi Butter Chicken which you just know is gonna be good

Described on the menu as ‘A must-eat in the capital of India, made with aromatic spices infused with tomato and butter makhini sauce‘

This is quite a rich sauce and with the butter and the cream it was in danger of feeling a little heavy but actually it did not which was nice to alleviate any potential calorific guilt.

They suggest that it was like a dish from Delhi but it was closer to some Butter Chicken we ate a few years back in Agra on route to the Taj Mahal (read more here).

Both the curries we had ordered had nice gravy sauces that were great mixed up with the ‘fluffy;’ white rice and mopped up with the excellent paratha. That disc of buttery layered bread could well have been one of the best bites we both had with our meals and we wanted more for sure.

MASALA FISH AND CHIPS

The Masala Fish and Chips was a dish I ordered on a different occasion one Friday through Deliveroo. I had meant to include it in some sort of alternative Fish and Chip Friday story but lets add it on here while we are all talking about Paajis.

I really quite liked this dish which ate and tasted exactly as described on the menu; “Punjabi style white fish marinated in lime, ginger, garlic flavoured with turmeric, cardamom and fenugreek then fried with a gram flour coating served with chips‘

It did not look pretty in the box when it arrived but once arranged neatly on the plate at home it was looking mighty fine.

I would order this again, I really like the lightly spiced flavour of the coating and the sharp acid hit of the lime with the white fish

So all in all I really enjoyed the food from Paajis at the Keans Head. It was a whole lot better than any curry that I had had down the pub for a while and was a much more enjoyable and relaxed experience than getting one in many of the Indian restaurants in town.

We both said it was spot on and that we would be happy coming back for more and I am not just saying that.

While I love coming to the pub to get a pint with my curry I think that it is good value getting a delivery from Paajis and if you have a friend who just want’s a burger? Well try their other kitchen partner Chuckys@46 (read more here) 🙂

Paajis is located in the Keans Head pub in Nottingham at 46 St Mary’s Gate, Nottingham NG1 1QA

You can check them out on their Facebook page and on their Instagram profile