Diwali - the Festival of Light

Post date: 23-Oct-2012 07:47:18

3rd November 2012

Diwali, the Indian Festival of Light, is coming soon. Come and celebrate with us our 2 year anniversary,

with one of the supperclubs that put us on the foodie map.

In 2010, when I founded Parkholme Supper Club, I was struggling to get people to come for dinner. The "obvious suspects", my neighbours, had been, and I hadnt' yet built up the reputation or reviews that have sustained us since.

So a friend of mine said "if you'll come to Richmond, I'll find you 12 people" - for dinner at her house. It seemed an obvious answer to my diner shortage! We decided on an Indian menu and I cooked and packed up enough food for quite a few more than 12 people into my trolley bag and headed off on the overground. Unbeknownst to me though, she had invited a professional food critic - one of editors of the Square Meal guide!

I arrived at hers to find her cooker was erratic and she had no pans for more than 4 people - so heating everything up was a nightmare - but survived. During the meal there was a woman who was very complimentary about the food. I had no idea who she was, and it was only at the end of the meal when another guest said to me "you do understand that if Margaret likes the food, it means more than other people!" that I began to understand what was going on.

The review I got from Margaret that night was instrumental in convincing all these strangers that they should come and trust me to cook for them, so please come and celebrate Diwali with us with that first meal that put Parkholme Supper Club on the map. Here's her review:

I was lucky enough to be a guest at one of the Parkholme Supper Club evenings, when Alicia, the hostess, whirled up a really impressive range of curries. I have been a restaurant critic for years, and the dinner we were served was good enough to rival all but the best restaurants of that genre. Moreover, the dishes looked beautiful, arrived on time and were very generous. My fellow diners, a mixed bag of journalists, musicians, property developers and City folk made for top class conversation - all in all, it was unexpectedly one of my most enjoyable dining experiences in the last year.

Reading through the blurb afterwards, I found something to make the evening even more impressive still - Alicia manages to produce this quality food on a regular basis at a price of £5 a head, with all the rest of the money donated to MSF. Based on my experience, Parkholme Supper Club delivers a double feel good whammy - having a really good time while raising money for a really good cause.

Margaret Clancy

South West Editor, Square Meal Guide

On the menu will be:

2 traditional vegetarian Gujarati snacks - Handvo and Dhokla - served with Pomegranate Raita

"Green" Fish Curry - green with fresh herbs and coconut milk

Dal Rajwali (a recipe I got from a real palace in Rajasthan)

Cancelled Elvis Chicken - it got this strange name because we first tested the recipe on an evening where our "Indian Elvis" show we'd planned to go to was sadly cancelled! It's cooked with black pepper and more than made up for the missing Elvis.

Pineapple Curry with Fresh grated coconut - people always ask for this recipe but you need to grate your own coconut!

Himalayan Lamb Curry made with yoghurt - one of my favourites

Moong Dal - a delicious Gujarati recipe made with mung beans, a recipe from a friend's mother

Cauliflower in Mustard Seeds

home made chapatis

Indian Rice pudding - made with coconut milk and other delicious things

Cost will be £40 of which £35 goes direct to MSF

Please e-mail us with bookings on info@parkholmesupperclub.co.uk