Indian restaurant Zumbura to open in Clapham with Benares-trained head chef
A new restaurant focusing on North Indian cuisine from a Benares- and Cinnamon Club-trained head chef is set to launch in London's Clapham this November.
Created by furniture retailers and entrepreneurs Aamir Ahmad, Sean Galligan and David Garrett, Zumbura will serve traditional, small sharing plates with an emphasis on fresh, healthy and nutritionally-rich interpretations of classic dishes from the Purab region, North India.
Zumbura dishes will include kullia (aromatic lamb and turnip stew), shami kebab (lamb and lentil patties), plus karela (bitter gourd here cooked with lentils) and ghugni (black chickpeas with a tangy mango and onion dressing), which are said to bring health benefits.
Co-founder Ahmad hopes that the restaurant will prove to be the first successful site as part of his wider aim to expand the business and change people's views of Indian food in Britain.
He said: "I have always been really disappointed by Indian food in the UK. It's not what we eat at home. What most restaurants serve is a British invention which has been changed so much from the original that when friends come round and eat at my house, they are surprised by the depth and breadth of the dishes I serve."
He added: "I wanted to be able to provide the kind of food I ate when I was growing up, but within a restaurant setting."
Zumbura opens in Clapham's old town on 6 November.
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