Auld Christmas

In Shetland we celebrate Auld Christmas on the 6th of jan. This is Christmas day by the Julian calendar. When the change over was made from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar in the Britain Wednesday 2 September 1752 was followed by Thursday 14 September 1752. Some people saw this as 12 days being stolen and wanted there days back. The 25th of December would be the 6th of January on the new calendar so Christmas was moved too.

This is an old tradition, Christmas is now mainly celebrated on the 25th of December, but we also celebrate on the 6th of January by visiting family and friends. Me and the boy decided to keep this tradition by going out for a nice dinner somewhere we wouldn't usually go.

We went to Jasmin Indian Restaurant at Hindmarsh square in the CBD. Jasmin celebrates it's 29th birthday this year and has just been awarded "Best Indian Restaurant in Australia" at the 2008 Restaurant & Catering Association Awards for Excellence.

The menu was wonderful with too much to choose so went went with the "feed me" banquet where you choose whether you are hungry or starving, we went with hungry and still had more than we could manage.

We started with Tikka Prawns, they had a crispy coating on the outside and they were very tasty.

Tandoori Chicken "Boneless pieces of chicken lightly marinated and cooked in the tandoor." These were nice but not as wonderful as I was expecting after the prawns

and perhaps Alu Tikkas "Potato patties as only Mrs., Singh can prepare." These reminded me of fishcakes without any fish

The prawn came with a wonderful sweet chilli sauce that tasted like it had capsicum in it too, the other two were served with a mint sauce, so scrummy

Then we had 2nd Starters!
Samosas "Meat, vegetables and spices wrapped in a light pastry, a specialty of the house." This was nice almost like a filo pastry.

and Tandoori Mushrooms "A large mushroom marinated in balsamic vinegar and coriander and cooked in the tandoor." These were delicious! so juicy and full of flavour.

For our mains we had

Bhoona Ghosht "A full-flavored medium to hot lamb curry prepared to an old family recipe."Butter Chicken "Boneless pieces of chicken cooked in butter, coriander, tomato and ginger to produce the most popular dish served from the kitchen." and vegetable accompaniment from the specials menu, potato with green beans.

This was served with Tandoori baked Naan bread, Mango Chutney, Cucumber Raita, Papadams and of course rice.

Our second mains were
Beef Vindaloo "one of Mrs. Singh’s most outstanding creations. A favorite with those who like it hot." and Cheese Naan "a house specialty."

This was amazing tasty food far more than we needed and we ate far more than we should.

The banquet cost $44 per person.

We walked, or should I say rolled as our bellies were so full, down to Gouger Street to my favourite wine bar cork. We were in here shortly after it opened and had a lovely chat with the owner, he suggests wines you might like and gives wonderful tasters before you make your decision, it's a tiny little place but it has a lovely atmosphere and is perfectly situated opposite the markets.