OUT AND ABOUT | MANJIT'S KITCHEN FUNDRAISER AND SOCIAL

Last week I went to a very special event indeed. It was a fundraiser and social for Indian vegetarian street food traders Manjit's Kitchen. Last month they were the unfortunate victims of an attack whereby their van for trading was completely vandalised to the point of being written off. With this as their main way of getting to events and trading it was a big shock to their business and to their every day lives.

Manjit and Michael, the talented duo behind the business put faith in a blue horsebox which was pointed out to them. This then quickly became a new viable option for a portable street food kitchen to trade out of. They put together a Crowdfunder appeal to raise £4000 to help them get their new set of wheels made into a kitchen and get back on the road. This was amazingly reached in just under a week. To make their new vehicle safe and secure they decided to continue with "overfunding" and have at this point made £4741 and have nine days of donations left.

Back to the event... It was put on by Emma of Culture Vultures and Andrew of Northern StrEats/Fish& as an opportunity to raise more money for Manjit and Michael's new vehicle but also for friends and for those who had donated to come together to celebrate the campaign and Culture Vultures 5th birthday too. Held at Holbeck Underground Ballroom (The HUB) it was a great setting.

Street food traders from Leeds and Manchester united and give up their time and serve their food on a 'Pay as you feel' basis with all money donated to the Manjit's Kitchen crowdfunder appeal. Street food traders who collaborated with the event were Fish&, Manjit's Kitchen themselves, The Greedy Pig and Ginger's Comfort Emporium who had doubled up with Noisette Bakehouse to serve some delectable goods.

Heading over with Diane, we were both on a mission to share a bit of everything on offer. First up was Fish& who were serving up their notorious twisted fish and chips in taster cones. With fis in three different batters (normal, chilli and pepper) laid upon a cone full of chips.

The fish was very good. Extremely good actually and it was the freshest fish I have ever had in the form of fish and chips. Flaky but firm white fish in a light and crisp batter - not greasy and heavy like some of the traditional versions. The flavours in the batter gave a nice little kick to the eating experience too. I could have eaten this all night!

Next up was the stars of the show - Manjit's Kitchen! Back on form with the support and confidence of all their supporters they were here to trial run a new street food dish. In comes the Chapasty! 

A dry curry of beetroot and paneer marinated in masala with coriander, sev and spring onion then wrapped in a chapati into a pasty shape. These were truly intriguing and a great new take on the street food which they offer.

Manjit was on rolling duty, honourably rolling out each chapati individually and then filling them with the curry and the toppings before shaping it into a pasty. Michael was in charge of frying the chapasty's and giving them a nice bit of colour. Good teamwork! 

The resulting dish was a lovely golden chapati filled with a sweet flavourful curry. Beetroot is one of my favourite vegetables and I love tasting it with different cultural influences and twists. This was definitely a winner for me. It was easy to eat, not too greasy and absolutely beautiful to look at too! These would make for a perfect little meal or snack to eat and I look forward to seeing them resurface on future menus at events.

Jo from The Greedy Pig had been busy making two variations of scotch eggs to bring to the event. I managed to get my hand on one of each. The meat option was filled with what I think was pork and chorizo. The egg yolk was runny, the meat juicy and tender and the coating was a light coating of fine breadcrumbs. These were seriously good. I'm not really a scotch egg eater but I think it's because I have memories of the horrible things that are available in the supermarkets. 

On to the vegetarian option... this was MIND BLOWINGLY good. My favourite vegetable made yet another appearance in this wonderous delight with a shredded beetroot filling surrounding the egg. It was seasoned very well and the whole texture in my mouth thing going on was incredible. 

Last but not least was the collaboration between Ginger's Comfort Emporium and Leeds favourite baker Noisette Bakehouse. Sarah from Noisette Bakehouse had made a selection of cookies to team up with Ginger's ice cream to make ice cream sandwiches. These looked really good but unfortunately I didn't get to try one. Ginger had packed up and was just about to leave by the time we had worked our way round to getting some ice cream. 

The evening ended with a raffle with lots of very generous prizes donated from a wide range of sources, including local independent businesses.

It was a fantastic evening with some really good vibes going on. It was not packed out with people but the people who were there were full of love, awe and support for Manjit and Michael. 

It is great to see the people behind Culture Vultures and Northern StrEats continuing to support and strengthen the food and culture scene in Leeds. There was such a good community feel that night and I was honoured to be part of it. The evening managed to raise over £840 too.

There is still time to donate to Manjit's Kitchen crowdfunder, to do so click here.

OUT AND ABOUT | BELGRAVE STREET FEAST PT. V

After my holiday I was left feeling a bit out of the loop on the food front in Leeds. Belgrave Street Feast came to the rescue however, returning last Saturday for yet another fabulous monthly installment celebrating independent street food vendors, breweries, local artists and music.

Having eaten from the majority of the traders there were a few new showcasing this month, one of which I was really looking forward to try (to see the full lineup click here).

I had been eyeing up the food from Discovery Bay. These guys are better known for their restaurant serving up traditional Caribbean food in their restaurant in Huddersfield. With their business leading to ventures all over the place, they also embark on setting up camp as a street food business.

Venturing over to their stall we could feel the love spilling its way through the crowd. Head chef Barrington Douglas smile was radiating across the room. Lots of friendly talk and interest led to some sampling of the food.

On offer were two different wraps. Tortillas topped with crunchy white cabbage and onion and then either a portion of their Jamaican Jerk Chicken or their Caribbean Sweet Pumpkin Curry.

I was with a vegetarian friend and we both wanted to share one of their wraps. I wanted to try a bit of jerk chicken on the side so asked if this was possible. A little bit of confusion occurred and we ended up with both curries served as one wrap. They saw the horror on my friends face and quickly made up a fresh vegetarian wrap without batting an eyelid. Not letting us pay any more than £5 we ended up with both wraps to eat. 

For me these guys epitomise what street food is all about. It doesn't necessarily translate to money and making dolla but it's all about making sure everyone is happy, the vibe is right and people understand you and your food.

We both thoroughly enjoyed our wraps and went crazy with the HOT sauce they had, alarmingly red in its colour, which had a great chilli hit.

The jerk chicken was moist and flavourful, blackened from the sweet rub and skillet pan, just how it should be. The sweet pumpkin curry was tangy, spicy and robust in its seasoning. Both were extremely satisfying and a nice little change to the usual street food fair on offer.

Moving on to round #2 we went for a bao from one of the Belgrave's in-house vendors Fu Schnikens. These are Taiwanese street food called Guo Bao consisting of steamed dumplings which are usually filled with pork belly.

In the last five months that they have been on offer I have never managed to get round to ordering one to myself (I don't even know why myself?). Having a tried a nibble here and there, I had been hankering for one of their portabello glazed mushroom bao's for a while.

At the last month's street feast they had a salmon special on and I was hoping it would be back on this time. Unfortunately not! They did still however have their three regular bao's on which were more than enough to please me.

We ordered two of the Portabello Mushroom Bao's for £6. I think this is quite a steep price personally but we were still willing to pay it.

The bao's came topped with pickled mooli, cashew nuts, sesame seeds and hoisin sauce. The mushrooms were firm, beefy and there was no need for meat here. Chomping into these little fluffy dumplings we were very happy with the taste indeed. Lots of rich Asian flavours soaring through and the firm texture of the mushroom made it a substantial light bite to eat.

Needing a little bit of a break, we settled up for a pint of the Ilkley Brewery Tour de France ale which was on cask at the bar. Marie Jaune is the name, a blonde biere at 4.5% brewed with French hops and French yeast. Designed to commemorate Le Tour and showcase Yorkshire brewing, this is going to be a big hit in bars in the run up to Le Grand Depart taking place in Leeds on July 5th.

Perfect timing if you ask me. By this point Ginger's Comfort Emporium were back up and running after selling out as we had arrived. Usually served from an ice cream van (in the picture below), they serve ice cream for grown ups in brioche buns and several other wonderful desserts.

With a more simple set up at the street feast, only ice cream was on offer but that did not translate to being a bad thing.

We shared a scoop of their Plum, Gin and Juniper ice cream (£.2.50) which was served in a little pot with a waffle ice cream cone placed on top. I loved their way of serving it. Simple yet effective and made for a good sharing portion without having to swap a load of saliva!

With two mini spoons we stuck in. Super creamy and subltely sweet. The flavours of the plum came through and the gin and juniper gave it a good distant flavour to anything I have ever tasted in an ice cream before. The cone was also great... a proper ice cream cone! Waffle style and none of this cardboard wafer business.

Feeling very satisfied and well-fed we spent a few hours just lapping up the atmosphere inside the Belgrave. The rain was on the verge of torrential outside and was not giving any signs of letting up. With a slice of Dough Boys Pizza, their basic Silvio (£2 a slice), we prepped for the rain and soggily squelched our way home.

The next street feast is on Saturday 14th June at the Belgrave Music Hall and Canteen in Leeds. It's going to be a Brazilian themed special with lots of street food traders speciailising in South and Latin American food, as well as a few extra surprises and the chance to watch the Brazil football match on the big screen upstairs.

See you there?