After hottest curry, it's time to cool things down

Published on Wednesday 4 August 2010 16:47

FIRST came the world's hottest curry, which was quickly followed by a much sweeter - and less spicy - option in the form of chocolate naan bread.

Now, Indian and Bangladeshi restaurant Kismot, on St Leonard's Street, is offering its customers a range of new treats to celebrate the Edinburgh Festival, including marshmallow naan bread, chocolate curry and curry-flavoured ice-cream, to name a few.

The unusual dishes, which were added to the restaurant and takeaway menu around two weeks ago, have already proved such a hit with customers that manager Abdul Ali is considering making them a permanent fixture.

The 26-year-old, who believes the treats are the first of their kind in Edinburgh, said: "My wife and I were thinking that we needed to come up with something new and crazy for the menu. My mother-in-law loves putting this marshmallow fluffy stuff on her toast and we thought, 'why don't we put it in naan bread'.

"We tried it out for a few days, it's not our cup of tea but we get a lot of students coming in and it's been absolutely a hit, so we put it on the menu. My daughter is a fan of marshmallows as well so that was another reason to make it. People are just ordering it for the sake of it to try it out.

"We are really excited about the curry-flavoured ice-cream as well. We thought, 'let's do something a bit special this summer time' and the response has been overwhelming."

The father-of-one, who lives in Newington, added: "The kids are loving the chocolate curry, we've based it on a tikka masala curry."

The home-made ice-cream is available in four flavours - korma, vindaloo, masala and mango chutney.

"The vindaloo ice-cream has quite a crazy taste - cold, hot, cold, hot - you don't know what to think of it," Mr Ali added.

Also among the family-run restaurant's new creations are brussels sprout and broccoli bajis, which are proving popular with diners.

Mr Ali said: "People think we are crazy, but if they don't sell, we just eat them ourselves that night."

The chocolate curry is available with chicken and lamb, and there is also a vegetarian option.

Kismot launched The Kismot Killer, thought to be the world's hottest curry, last August, which was followed two months later by chocolate naan bread.

Mr Ali added: "I think the marshmallow naan bread, chocolate curry and curry ice-creams will do better than the hot curry because they are a lot more edible.

"We thought it would bring a bit of fun to Edinburgh for people to come and try our exciting home-made menu. It has been really exciting."

The marshmallow-centred naan bread, which has proved a hit with foreign tourists, costs 3.25, while a chicken chocolate curry is priced around 9.25 and two scoops of curry ice-cream cost 2.95.