Start of the Season

(download)

Click here to download:

start-of-the-season-BbpxHvuAgahlImHzcEBb.zip (544 KB)

The cart will be rolling up at events and festivals throughout the Summer. Here's the schedule to date 

Summer Schedule - 

3/4/5 May - Nuts in May Festival Cumbria 

19th May Stir it UP - Temple.Works.Leeds 

3rd June - Pickering Castle with Slung Low Theatre Company 

23rd June Roundhay Live - Roundhay Park Leeds

5th July - Shift Happens Conference York 

15th July Fueled Society Event - Nostell Priory - Wakefield 

19/20/21/July - Wickerman Festival - with Axis Sound System 

3/4/5 August - The Manchester Picnic - Manchester

More dates TBC 

STIR IT UP is back for for Part 2 - Saturday 19th May 8pm - 2am. Temple.Works.Leeds.

Tickets £5 available from Laynes Espresso - The Greedy Pig - Jumbo Records

Online from Jumbo here http://www.jumborecords.co.uk/tickets.asp?event_id=13503

also www.wegottickets.com/stiritup

www.facebook.com/letsstiritup - 

@letsstiritup on twitter 

Number 1 Chaat Station

Mixing up a cone.  Bhel Puri is a taste sensation! A proper Chaat.

We ran Stir It UP at Templeworks last week - more info

 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stir-it-Up/255397937874306

The next event is Saturday 19th May - See you there.

Meanwhile home delivery returns next week for the last weekend of the month. Email/DM your order. 

Have a good week 

Manjit x

Stir it UP - Trailer

Here's the link to the trailer 

STIR IT UP

 Let's  STIR IT UP 

STIR IT UP is a new night launching in Leeds  - Saturday March 17th at Temple.Works.Leeds

It is a night of vintage Jamaican reggae music and Indian Street Food. 8pm til late.

Plying my trade at music festivals last year, I met Dr Huxtable and the Axis Sound System.

Dr Huxtable does this 

We have been searching for a venue in Leeds for ages, where we could bring quality music and quality food together under one roof.

Transporting some of the Summer festival spirit into the city. Meeting with the good people at Templeworks we realised we were game on.

On the first night, I will be rolling Chapatti Wraps and shaking up Bhel Puri til the early hours - Dr Huxtable will be selecting vinyl til the wax melts.

A chance to dance, eat, drink and smile until way past your last your bus. 

Future events will welcome other food traders from the festival scene and a late night  "farmers type market" is in the pipeline. 

A fully loaded bar and sweet chai to wet the whistles

Suits,boots,frocks, hats & ties will all impress

@letstiritup on twitter

Flyers and artwork will be on the table soon

Tickets available online here  £5

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/152584

Or in person from The Greedy Pig. 58 North St Leeds. LS2 5PN

WIN 2 FREE TICKETS -Simply  leave a comment over on our Facebook event page  "I want to STIR IT UP because......"  All entrants will be placed into a hat and drawn 12th March - (If you have already bought a ticket will refund)  

http://www.facebook.com/events/285275141536256/

Morroco - Eating on the Streets

Marrakech - Morroco. Djemaa el Fna. The main square and heart of the city. Every afternoon trolleys weave in through a sea of people and a bustling open air restaurant is assembled.

Come morning it is gone.

Charcoal smoke fills the air and food sellers try to pull you in grabbing arms and giving the patter in any language you wish.

"COME INSIDE - JUST LOOKING - YOU LOOK SO SKINNY - STALL 117 TAKE YOU TO HEAVEN. JAMIE OLIVER WAS EATING HERE"

Some food is excellent - some just OK. Follow the crowds, follow your eyes.

"I have just eaten" becomes your only line of defence against the sellers.

I passed on the meat dishes - lambs head dipped with bread, sheeps brain, snails, Chicken/lamb kebab skewers.

I found vegetable tagines, cous cous, egg and potato rolls filled at an impossible speed,

warming harissa soup, freshest sweetest 40p glasses of orange juice in the world, spiced tea stalls, frites & calamari sellers.

A short film of some of the Food Sellers I met along the way - more to follow.

(download)

Click here to download:

p131.mov (16.44 MB)

MK Supper Club @HeadingleyHEART

Monday January 23rd  7pm til 10pm

 at Headingley HEART Cafe Leeds -  http://www.heartcentre.org.uk/contact

100% Vegetarian Punjabi Style Feast for the good people - served up by Manjit & family.

Welcome drink - Starters - 3/4 main courses rice - breads - dessert

£20 Tariff - BYOB and sharing eyes

Seating at a long table and food will be served family style. A family that eats together, talks together with no signs of dysfunction on the night.

Menu will be online the week before.

For further info and to reserve your place at the table 

Email manjit@manjitskitchen.com  Limited places - first come first served.

Sprouting

This week was the first  #soultraders Christmas meet up 

We met in a house, (@mikechitty's)  round an extended table. All traders, pedlars, hawkers who have gone it alone. Some years ago, some months ago. Risky business, soulful business. 

There was eating, drinking, planning, plotting and who know what will sprout as a result.

How to Sprout 

20 sprouts will feed a small group of pascifists

Wash, trim, remove outer jackets. Halve

Heat a glug of oil,

Add a good finger pinch of mustard seeds and cumin seeds Starting to pop, they are telling you to add the next spice

Add an even bigger pinch of sesame seeds - Relax and watch them brown. Breathe.

Next up pinch of Asafoetida - a whole star anise too, it will pose for photo when the dish is served.

Good pinch of Chilli, Turmeric, a grind of salt.  

Pour in the sprouts - strir and coat with the spicy goodness Brown up the edges of the undressed sprouts. Then pour in the Tamarind 1/2 cup say.

Bubble away without a lid until the sprouts are how you like.

Short time for crunch or longer for softer -  to melt on the tongue and wash away the memories of school mash and bitter Christmas dinners. 

For the Tamarind 

If you have Tamarind chutney made up, use that - you know what your doing.

Or mix tamarind paste with warm water - sweeten up with jaggery/sugar.

Or boil 1/4 Tamarind block in cup of water sweeten with jagggery/sugar and push through a sieve.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and much sprouting in 2012

Sprouters - @mikechitty @andrewcritchett @peterramsden @michaeljameson @ilovelomi @re_connection @andy_bagley1 @TheSocBiz  @manjitskitchen

sprout   (sprout)

#soultraders menu

Manjit's News

Home Delivery will be available 9th/10th December and 16/17th December -

Taking Bookings now  for Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. 

I am pleased to announce that I am now a married women. It was a fantastic day and naturally, food played a big part. Create Restaurant hosted our wedding breakfast and it was absolutely delicious. At the evening reception Fish& brought their catering hut and served up quality cones of fish and chips. Indie Ices brought his Kulfi Trike and set up next to the dancefloor. Hash Brownies provided trays of luscious brownies and Sunshine Bakery made and displayed a beautiful wedding cake. Me and my ladies sorted all the Indian food.  A wedding banquet provided by Leeds finest independent food producers. I thank you all for what you did.

This week Manjit's Kitchen won the Best of Leeds Awards Vegetarian category - A massive thanks to all who voted. This was a  surprise and is a fitting recognition for all the effort we have put in this year.

On Wednesday I catered a music groups record launch. With no cooking facilities at the venue and an informal crowd on their feet, - I provided Bhel Puri Chaat.  I set up my table and tins in the corner and mixed up fresh Chaats to order. A cocktail type mix of puffed rice, Channa, onion, cucumber,onions, coriander, chilli, tamarind chutney and coriander and mint chutney. Was a hit!!! Will be definitely be developing the Chaat side of things in the future. So look out for me if you Fancy a Chaat 

Have a good week 

Manjit x

1 Year on

12 months ago, I made my first delivery of Homemade Chana Masala to a family in a new apartment block in Leeds City Centre. All arrangements were made on twiiter. The address and postcode, DM'd ("direct messaged "for non twitter folk), I replied with a price and delivery time and a DM smiley emoticon sealed the deal. When the food was prepared and ready to leave, I DM'd and waited. Later that evening this tweet appeared -

just had the best veggie curry from @manjitskitchen, Leeds. absolutely fantastic nice one guys

This was the start of Manjit's Kitchen. A flurry of activity on twitter followed and orders for food started to roll in. I made a phonecall to the the printer to cancel the leaflets as it seemed they wouldn't be required.

Things I now know

 Filling in a business plan and returning it to business link never to hear from them again is not a total waste of time, because at least I had filled in a business plan.

My food is made with love and when people love my food - the world seems a better place.

Catering is the hardest work I have ever done. I have fallen asleep at the dentists.

My mum can make chapatis faster than me.

At festivals sometimes there will be no queue and sometimes there will be a MASSIVE queue.

Food events seem to work best when there is something else happening too, music, art, football for example.

Cauliflowers contain Vitamin C

Thanks to all who have supported Manjits Kitchen and tried something a little bit different. 

This year I plan to build on my experience at markets, festivals and events and develop the street food side of my work. The Chapatti Wraps have been the first stage in this development.

The people on the Eat St blog put it better than I can re street food

"Street food is about the battle against the bland, about a dismissal of the exclusive and how food in public can contribute to the mental well being of a city"

I will be taking some time off for my wedding in November - So there are only 2 weekend deliveries left before a short break. 29/30th Oct and 4/5th of Nov. Usual rules apply - book early.

Have a good week

Manjit x