We dissect what London’s much-loved dishes are made from.
Eating a Dishoom bacon naan is a London rite of passage, but when the restaurant opened in 2010, people were confused. ‘The bacon naan has been on the menu since day one, but in the early days, people thought an Indian restaurant serving breakfast was crazy,’ says co-founder Kavi Thakrar. ‘Dishoom pays homage to the Irani cafés in Bombay. Londoners love a bacon sandwich, so we thought we’d do our version, like an Irani café would do in London.’ He talks us through it.
The bacon
‘We use streaky bacon and cook it in the oven at a high heat to get that crisp texture. I think that intense heat in the oven does something magical to it.’
The naan
‘The naans are baked to order for 20 seconds in the tandoor – it gets up to 500 degrees. It’s key: I don’t know of another bacon sandwich where the bread is baked to order.’
The cream cheese
‘We spread cream cheese all over the naan – it provides moisture and richness. We use Philadelphia. We tried loads of varieties and it’s just really good.’
The herbs
‘We use fresh coriander – I like the herbaceous punch it gives. It brings colour and freshness, which I love in the morning. It compliments the chilli jam really well too.’
The chilli jam
‘We make big batches of it with tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, ginger, garlic and chillies. It’s sweet, sharp, spicy and massively addictive. It brings everything together.’
DIY bacon naan roll for two kit. £16. www.dishoom.com