What wonderful weather we have had but ‘Prior’ ( you will know what I mean if you are a cricket fan!) to our supper club it had been raining ‘cats & dogs’ or is it ‘dogs & cats’?? Any way it was wonderful to welcome our 12 guests with a cocktail of Pimms in our garden because the rain held off for the evening.

One of the young ladies arrived wearing what I can only describe as a ‘jumpsuit’! I thought it was beautiful because it reminded me of my younger days when I used to wear such wonderful creations – I am getting out the sewing machine tomorrow!!

Our guests were truly wonderful – they all knew that you are supposed to eat the chutney and relishes and there was not a morsel left!

There is lots more to say and post but having spent three days watching the Test Match as well as prepping and cooking for the  the supper club I am a bit exhausted!

In fact if I had been in Prior’s shoes I might well have made headlines regarding a window pane! I was there in the Allen Stand and initially thought that someone had dropped their bottle of wine!

More supper club thoughts to follow.

I can tell you hand on heart that last night Joginder’s Supperclub cooked for a table of friends. We welcomed back some regular guests (and friends) and some new guests (who are now friends). We had the pleasure of ‘ The Clandestino Supperclub’  trying our food. What lovely people, and just as passionate about creating good food in a small intimate environment as we are.

Two guests, who’s first experience of the supperclub scene was coming to Joginder’s Supperclub last year, visited ‘ The Clanestino Supperclub ‘ a few months ago, and as well as enjoying the fabulous food got on really well with the hosts. It was so great last night to have them all around the table with our other guests.

Ma Rani in full supperclub mode wearing our Joginder's Supperclub apron made by Carolyn Agnew

The seafood starter went down very well, with one guest attempting to waft the smell of the dish put in front of her closer to her nose! This is the second time that we have served our seafood recipe in a runny masala sauce. We served Pollock with King Prawns with a slice of Spicy Paratha on the side.

Machi & Jhinga Masala served with Spicy Paratha (this picture doesn't do the dish justice!)

For the next course we served our ‘patty’ style kebabs. Moving away from lamb we used chicken instead. Served with mango, red onion, kucumber salsa & a mooli raita.

Tangy Murgh (chicken) Kebab

We do often get asked if we make our own ice cream, kulfi or milk ice. The answer is yes and Ma Rani went one step furthur to providing the evidence at the table of Cardomom milk ready to be churned…..

Cardomom Milk in its liquid form before churning

Back to the main courses……

Once again, Joginder’s Mutton Masala was on the menu. Punjabis’ don’t cook with a lot of lamb because the animal is deemed too young to eat (sorry to any vegetarian who is reading this, I won’t go into too much detail). My Bejee (Joginder) cooked with mutton because that was the family favourite alongside chicken. Lamb became a more popular dish with her once she moved to England back in 1960. Lamb was easier to get than mutton. The reason why we serve Joginder’s Mutton Masala and call it so is because the recipe hasn’t changed since Joginder cooked it all those years ago. It is one of our most popular meat dishes and I think that she would be proud that we are sticking to her recipe!

Joginder's Mutton Masala

Tarka Moong Daal with Crispy Onion

For dessert we served Cardomom milk ice alongside a seasonal fruit platter. Sorry, no pictures of the milk ice – still trying to remind myself to snap away through out the evening!!!

Ma Rani venturing out of the kitchen to chat to the guests in between courses

Ma and I don’t sit down to eat with the guests – it has been commented that people would like this so we can talk through the food. Unfortunately because we are cooking almost everything during the evening we can’t! So Ma Rani has decided that as the ‘head chef’ she is going to come to the table at least a couple of times during the evening to talk through the dishes and answer any questions people may have. It will probably be a welcome change from me prattling on all evening!!

Once again a wonderful time was had, and we throughly enjoyed seeing everyone again! Dave – I promise we will do a barbeque supperclub in your honour!

Finally I would like to throw my hands into the air and relive the moment from yesterday when Pa Graham, my brother and my football team lifted the FA Cup for the first time in 42 years!! Well done Manchester City, about time.

Our next dates are Saturday 4th June and Saturday 9th July. We look forward to cooking for you. See you at the table!

Saira x

Preparing for this evening….as it happens in real time!

See you this evening folks! x

We had such an amazing day. Half the family and some friends did go off to enjoy the day but were saddened that their bubbly was confiscated by random security guards – who obviously had  a good party in the evening judging by the number of black bin liners that were full !!

We did all eventually meet up ‘at the house’. Everyone brought food, ranging from fantastic cakes to  savoury and fruit salads. We made a contribution of our Mutton Masala and Chickpeas plus rice and our ‘Rich Tea’ Royal Wedding cake.  It all went down very well. The star of the show had to be the ‘Gingerbread People’ – looked fantastic and tasted delicious,  made by a friend of our son – well done you!

We have been looking forward to a gathering of family and friends over the next few days to celebrate the event!  Many of our supper club diners will be joining us tomorrow to toast the newly weds!

Saira, her father and some friends will be heading off  to somewhere in central London about 8 am tomorrow. I will provide the necessary sustenance – fresh bacon and scrambled egg chiabata buns wrapped in foil to stay warm for breakfast with lashings of coffee! Then they can tuck into home-baked ham and cucumber sandwiches with a bottle of bubbly! I hope they come home for ‘The Party’ to join about 40 friends and family to celebrate.

All our friends are bringing a dish but we have stuck to the supper club dishes that people seem to enjoy. So to celebrate the Royal wedding we will be serving up Mutton Masala, Spicy Chole, masala Rice, Sweet ginger baked gammon joint, potato and radish salad.

There will be a cocktail bar with some innovative drinks especially invented by my daughter-in-law for the occasion! They are delicious and we may well serve them at our supper clubs.

So dear supper clubbers have a wonderful time tomorrow, whatever you are doing, and  join us in wishing William and Catherine all the very best for their future.

We had a full table last week with a great mix of people! Fellow Tufnell Parkers, a collegue and her friend from my theatre days and the lovely Melissa of ‘The Love People’ who has shown immense support to our supperclub by attending almost every single one!

We served Spicy Cornbread with Saag Paneer & Tomato and Punjabi Chicken Tikka with Mooli

Spicy Cornbread with Saag Paneer & Tomato

Punjabi Chicken Tikka served with Mooli

Conversation turned to the popular programme ‘Come Dine With Me’. I hold my hands up (as will Ma Rani) and say that I watch it religiously and dare I say it set the old Sky Plus. Some of our guests felt the same (hooray!) but we did all agree that whilst the programme was based around cooking and entertaining the cooking part should be taken in the loosest sense of the word. It is a reality show with a pleasant surprise when a contestant actually creates something impressive! (I’ve just flicked through the channel guide as I write this and it is on three different channels…..)

I’m getting better at taking photos throughout the evening but once we get into our ‘supperclub mode’ I forget to pick up the camera!

Stuffed Baby Aubergine ready to go into the oven

We served our second signature dish, Mutton Masala (it has been requested for our Royal Wedding Extravaganza on Friday) with Jeera Rice, Tarka Moong Daal and Stuffed Roti

Mutton Masala

Stuffed Roti

One of our guests, we learnt, had been commissioned to make something for the royal wedding – he wouldn’t reveal anything, not even a small hint so hopefully we will know what it is on Friday! Maybe one of the cakes? First dance choreography? A painitng?…..

Making the Spicy Cornbread

And ready for the oven

Preparing Saag Paneer & Tomato once the guests are seated at the table

Some of our dishes, such as a meat curry, are prepared and cooked slowly during the day. We do like to create the dishes which precede the main part of the meal so we can cook everything from fresh once guests have sat down at the table. It is nice for guests to see and hear you cooking and because the dining room is directly off the kitchen, the aroma from each dish can be smelt even before it has made it’s way to the table!

Homemade Almond Ice with Seasonal Fruit Salad in our Sweet Masala Sauce

Once the main courses are served Ma Rani likes nothing better than turning up the volume on the radio and doing a spot of Bangra….! (I do too but you won’t get me doing it on camera…!) We are now gearing up for our Royal Party on Friday which should be a lively affair – write up and photos will be posted! A big thank you to our wonderful guests, we are so pleased that you enjoyed the food and the evening. We look forward to cooking for you again! New supperclub dates will be available at the beginning of next month. See you at the table!

Lastly we would like wish HRH Prince William and Catherine Middleton a very happy day on Friday. We will be celebrating with you! Eat, drink and be merry!

Saira x

Write up and photos to follow shortly from last night’s supperclub. Thank you to our guests! See you at the table again soon. We are fully booked for May, however dates for June will be posted over the next few days…..

A lovely comment from one of our guests last night;

Hi Saira  & Rani – I just wanted to say a big thank you for a really wonderful evening last night, absolutely delicious food and great company. Good luck with your supper club – I’ll certainly be recommending it to my friends and hope to return before long… with my best, Richard.

I am always excited about every supper club that I cook for but non more so than the one this Saturday! Why? Because  Saira, my darling daughter has a fantastic new job. She really deserves it.

While she was having her interview I spent the morning randomly doing bus journeys in North London! I was so nervous for her that I needed to take my mind off things.  I stopped off at places that I didn’t know existed and bought a whole manner of produce including fresh herbs, fish and cheese. It will take us weeks to eat it all! I am really beginning to enjoy my ‘Freedom Pass’!

By the time I got home I feared the worst and when the phone rang a very tired sounding Saira said ‘ hello Ma, can’t talk too long BUT ( long breath in!) I got the job! I was so excited I actually dropped the phone but did manage to compose myself – as you do !

Our supper club is Saira’s brainchild because she passionately believes that people need to experience real home cooked Punjabi (Indian) food and that is why her second sentence was ‘ Ma , have you made the paneer  for the supper club yet?’  I lied and said yes – of course I hadn’t because I was busy all morning ‘travelling’ while she was  having her interview! I don’t think she believed me but I did make up for it by buying a nice bottle of bubbly and having it chilled by the time she stopped off at the end of the day!

So on saturday I am planning a ‘celebration surprise’ for our diners. Hope they enjoy it!

Once again – really proud of you Saira.

We had another great night last Saturday with some last-minute changes to group numbers and menu thrown in. We were already cooking for the lovely Lucy who has a gluten-free diet but one other guest made some changes to her group which included a vegetarian guest at the last-minute (2 hours before guests arrived!) Ma Rani pulled out all the stops and created an extra vegetarian dish. The joy with our cooking is that we do create a lot of vegetable dishes anyway so once the kitchen is in full swing from Friday evening we are prepared for any eventuality (well almost…)

So with the table full and stomachs empty everyone settled down for an evening of chatter and food. We are starting to put dishes on the menu which have featured in a book that Ma Rani started to write nearly 30 years ago but never got around to finishing even though two publishers were keen for it to be completed. If you think that in the early to mid eighties Madhur Jaffrey pretty much had the monopoly on Indian Cookery, it was no mean feat to get publishers interested in a different style of Indian cookery and an unknown author. Nowadays there are so many books on the market, that Ma is reluctant to start writing it again. Hopefully by including these dishes on our menus and with your feedback she may be inspired to write again. We shall see….

The first two dishes of the evening have come from Ma’s book…..

We served a Lentil Patty with Tomato relish and Yoghurt as our first course.

Followed by Spicy Mushroom Masala on Spicy Fillet of Haddock served with Mango, Cucumber and Indian Red Onions.

Followed by a feast of vegetarian and meat curries, including Keema with Peas and Joginder’s Murgh Masala served with a selection of Daal, Rice, Roti, Spicy Cornbread and Seasonal Kachumber.

When you are in the kitchen the noise from the dining room always carries through. On this occasion once I had served up the main courses, the table went virtually silent. Ma and I stopped in our tracks – it is disconcerting when it happens I can tell you! So I thought I had better go and check if the water needed refilling. And breath. Plates were filled with food and murmuring between mouthfuls of ‘this is really nice’ before conversation resumed and the volume rose. All’s well that ends well (got a bit of Shakespeare in here again)

Dessert was our combination of Almond Kulfi and Lemon Phirni, two dishes that we have tried and tested a few times and it seems that on this occasion both were a huge success!

I really want to mention Lucy and John who are in the process of putting ideas together to start their own supperclub in London. We were really pleased to meet them and so glad that they enjoyed our food! When we get more details from them I will post something on our blog. Gotta support each other!

Thanks also to Alia and her friends for being such a lovely and lively trio at the table, we had lots of fun taking about Bollywood and getting some Punjabi going in the kitchen. Sarah, Andy, Emily and Will were a great group and one half had travelled from Cambridge. The lovely Melissa of  ‘The Love People’ took her seat at the table for the evening and last but not least some other regulars to Joginder’s Supperclub who are now good friends of ours, Stephen and Duncan. Thank you everyone for once again making our little supperclub in good old Tufnell Park lots of fun and very worthwhile for the lovely comments we had during the evening.

I had to post this picture as well. We have an eclectic mix of cutlery and crockery which I like to use to decorate the table. These lovely cups and saucers were a gift from Carolyn (whose gorgeous house in France we use for our Charity Supperclubs)

Our next dates are Saturday 16th April &  Saturday 14th May – please do email us to join our mailing list and to receive notification of any last-minute places. Dates for June will be posted soon so watch this space and thanks for reading our blog!

Hi Saira,

It was a delight to meet you and your lovely parents!
We had an unforgettable experience, everyone loved the food and the cosy atmosphere.
I think it is a great idea for everyone to mingle first and then sit at a shared table..I’ve been to supperclubs where everyone sits like in a restaurant with no interaction with the other guests.

I am sure my friends would agree if I said that we would love to visit again!
The pickle (with apple?) that you sell was superb, I will definitely buy it on my next visit.

Warm regards

Alia, Raki and Mariam

We had another great night on Saturday and all our guests were fantastic! Write up and photos to follow over the next day or so. See you on the 16th April if you have booked your places and we promise dates for May will be up very soon. Please do email us at jogindersupperclub@hotmail.com to join our mailing list.

Saira x