Diwan E Am Tandoori Restaurant

Apparently it took until 1983 for the pleasures of Indian cuisine to arrive in the Tyne Valley area, and it was, of course, Diwan-E-Am who came up with the goods. The Geordies could hardly have had better tutors, and if the statistics are anything to go by there has been a wealth of catching up done in the years between then and now. Not for nothing did the late Robin Cook MP pronounce that chicken tikka masala was now a leading dish in Britain.

Herbs are nowadays recognised once again as sources of healing as well as powerful antidotes for treatment and prevention of illness. Turmeric, for instance, is an antiseptic, cloves can be beneficial to the heart. So some of the milder Indian dishes are packed full of herbs, others are rich in piquant spices that create the sort of aroma which caresses your taste buds as you enter the average Indian restaurant or street market.

Amongst the wide variety of freshly cooked dishes to be enjoyed at Diwan-e-Am are duck cooked with Satcora (a type of lemon from the Syhet region) in a sour and hot texture, or aromatic duck cooked sweet and sour in a coconut sauce. Gosht dishes offer a variety of lamb treated with methi leaves, ground cashew nuts, pomegranate sauce, split chick peas, hot lime flavouring, as well as the traditional rogan gosth, cooked with extra garlic and tomatoes.

Indian cooking pays considerable homage to vegetarian cooking, and a shabnab curry is a delightful cream curry of mushrooms and green peas. Ponch Chorchori reveals a mixture of spicy vegetables in a hot and sour sauce. Biryani dishes carry a vegetable version as well as the favourite King Prawn, chicken and lamb. Malayan, Kurma and Kashmiri dishes give a mild approach to your meal, but fans of madras and vindaloo will not be disappointed. Good to see that fish is not neglected, with delicious prawn dishes including salmon and prawns always available. Be sure not to miss the murgh jardaloo, an ancient Parsee dish steeped in mystery and tradition, a sweet and sour dish strongly spiced and hot.

The usual range of beers and lagers, with a wine list completes a traditional Indian evening of excellent quality.