Taj Mahal Curry House

Tandoor and curries at Taj Mahal Curry House

The menu pauses at one point to explain what a tandoor is: a large, vase-shaped clay oven, used since antiquity to bake flatbreads and roast meat. Out of it come Chicken Tandoori and Chicken Tikka, both first marinated in yoghurt, lemon juice and spices. Beside them stand Chilly Chicken and Chilly Paneer, pan-fried with onion, tomato, peppers and green chilli.

The curry section is broad, and that breadth is where the character of the house lies. Korma arrives in a sauce of cashews and saffron, Butter Chicken in tomato with cardamom, Mango Chicken in mango pulp with the same cardamom note. It gets stronger with Rogan Josh on a tomato base, Kadhai and Karahi with diced onion and pepper, Balti with ginger, Bhuna as a thick sauce, Dhansak sweet-and-sour with lentils, then Madras, Jalfrezi and, at the very top, Vindaloo. Almost all of it comes with chicken and with lamb; the menu marks the heat in three levels.

Little comes from the sea, but what does is precise: Prawn Curry with king prawns, fenugreek and lemon juice, Prawn Bhuna alongside it — and a Fish Curry made with salmon and scented with fennel and mustard seed. For a curry house, an unusual choice.

Vegetarian, vegan and halal

The meatless section carries itself: Chana Masala with chickpeas in a light tomato sauce, Tadka Dal of yellow lentils with onion, tomato and garlic, Aloo Jeera with toasted cumin, Aloo Gobi with cauliflower and potato, then Palak Paneer in spinach, Muttar Paneer with peas, Butter Paneer and Shahi Paneer. Pahadi Kofta carries the Nepalese half of the name furthest, with beans, cauliflower, ginger, garlic and onion in a sweet sauce.

The showpiece is Dal Makhani: lentils left overnight over the low heat of the tandoor and only then finished with butter and cream. That is not a quick side dish but something with a long run-up.

That all the food is halal is the house's own statement. The menu also carries a numbered allergen key running from gluten to lupin.

Bread, rice and the small things

Bread and rice have sections of their own and are ordered alongside the curry. The choice runs from plain naan through garlic and cheese naan to Peshwari Naan, filled with coconut and nuts; Tandoori Roti comes in wholemeal flour. The rice goes beyond basmati to Pilao with saffron, Jeera with cumin, and coconut, mushroom and egg rice. Biryani gets a line of its own: saffron-covered basmati with curry, with vegetables, chicken or lamb.

The starters hold the classics — papadum, samosa, Onion Bhaji, vegetable and chicken pakora — next to two you see less often: Paneer Pakoda, in which the fresh cheese is crumbed in corn flakes and gram flour and served with mint sauce, and Aloo Tikki, filled with spiced lentils. With them go raita with cucumber and ground cumin, an achar of mango and lime, a green salad with chaat masala. At the end, Gulab Jamun in a green cardamom syrup and kulfi, the pistachio ice cream of the Indian kitchen.

The square in front of the town gate

The Plaça de Carles V is no side address: it is the forecourt of the Porta del Moll and, for many visitors, the first step into the old town. A table can be booked through the venue's own website, by phone or by message — anyone planning around the market does better to sort it out in advance.