When I visit London, I tend to stick to the more central parts. I really don't live far, so I'm there quite a lot, but even so, I don't stray off the beaten path that often. And to me, Putney counts as straying - it's a little further out than I'd usually go, but actually it's pretty well connected. After visiting the restaurant I'm about to tell you about, I called my sister (who lives in Windsor) to let her know about this place that was just one train away from her. My point is that it's worth exploring sometimes - you might find some gems.
Kashmir restaurant in Putney is one such gem. It's about five minutes walk from Putney rail station, and is a lovely, intimate restaurant in the traditional Kashmiri style. This is Indian food, and while you can get your Tikka Masala or Rogan Josh, there are also a lot of other dishes available that you might not have seen before.
The lovely team there chose a selection of food for us to try, which was all amazing. We started with a platter featuring a variety of starters and Tandoori dishes; Kabargah, which is lamb ribs boiled in milk with Kashmiri spices and then deep fried. Nadru Kebab, which is crispy lotus root flavoured with cumin seeds and served with walnut chutney. Murg Malai Kebab, which is chicken marinated in cream, cashews and cheese before being cooked in a clay oven. Lamb Seekh Kebab, which is lamb mince mixed with spices, skewered and grilled.
I love being challenged to try new things and this didn't disappoint. The lotus root was absolutely delicious and all of the meat was tender and perfectly seasoned - we pretty much demolished the lot. Doesn't it look amazing?
At the moment, Kashmir don't have a starter selection on their menu (get on that, guys), so I'd recommend ordering a few dishes among friends to share.
For mains, out came lots of little bowls of deliciousness. Chicken and lamb Rogan Josh (which I usually find too spicy for my patheticness, but this was gorgeous and warming without being overpowering), Murg Tikka Labbabdar (their version of butter chicken, which was out of this world), Rista (lamb meatballs in white yoghurt gravy - insanely tender and tasty), Palak Paneer (spinach and paneer, two of my favourite things ever) and Dal Bukhara (black dhal, which my friend Amy and I were fighting over at the end - it was amazing).
Even the rice was unusually good - it was cooked with saffron, cashews, almonds, paneer and peas - and we also had a garlic naan which was probably the garlickiest naan I have ever had, like the holy union between traditional Italian garlic bread and Indian food. NOM. We ordered a second even though we were fit to bursting (and totally ate the lot).
We finished with Phirni, a traditional Kashmiri dessert with pistachios, almond and saffron. It was a little like rice pudding, but without the odd texture (which I'm not usually a fan of), with a crispy sugar topping a lot like creme brulee. We were so, so full, but couldn't help ourselves from polishing it off - the flavours were really unusual and, yeah, you guessed it - delicious.
Everything was just insanely yummy. I often find that Indian food is a bit too oily and rich for me, and all too many times I've visited a takeaway and eaten something that's literally swimming in oil, so much so that it's made me ill #IBSprobs. So it's a mark of quality for me when it's not, and all the food at Kashmir passed my test - and I felt great the next day, too. Honestly, Putney is not the closest for me, but I would absolutely go back to visit Kashmir again. If you live in the area, make a booking now - it's some of the best Indian food I've ever tasted.
Kashmir is at 18 Lacy Road, Putney, London SW15 1NL. The restaurant kindly paid for our bill in exchange for this honest review.
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