Curry and chips

Having returned from Boston in the aftermath of St Patrick's Day, I found that my favourite pub was still serving the usual faire. The Roisin dubh or Black Rose just 2 minutes walk from Quincy Market serves a feast of Irish and English dishes. I knew that going there on St Patrick's Day was a non starter… I learnt later that the lines were about a hour and a half wait long, that having been said, it would have been worth the wait.

Scanning the menu, there was corned beef and cabbage (no Irish pub is complete without it, even though it is an American dish)… bangers & mash, Fish and chips, Cottage pie (beef), Shepards pie (lamb), meat pies and Irish stew amongst many other menus items.. but then right at the bottom was one that caught my eye….. curry and chips. This dish is popular across Ireland and the UK, almost every fish and chip shop offers it, it's now a sort of a national dish.

The curry is a mix special and no matter where you go, England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales, it's tastes very similar. The Roisin dubh's curry, which I just had to have, was… well if I didn't know where I was, I would have said I was back in England. 

It's served just on top of steak fries (as near as you get to chips) as the full meal just like a gravy or chili on fries in American cuisine….. several friends thought it sounded revolting until they tried it and now they are hooked – I knew there was a purpose for me coming over here !!!!

Well if you want to try it, this is a pretty standard recipe --

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 Medium Onion

1 Medium Apple

1 Tablespoon Curry powder

2 Tablespoon Oil

2 Tablespoon Plain flour

600 ml Water (1 pint)

1 Tablespoon Tomato purée

 Lemon juice

 Salt and pepper

Method

Chop the onion and apple and fry with the curry powder in the oil until tender. Stir in the flour, cook for 2 minutes and then remove from the heat and add the water, tomato purée, salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. Simmer for 15 minutes, then pour over the chips and serve


http://www.blackroseboston.com/