Malai kofta @ Sankruti
Bixteth St, Liverpool, L3 9LP
Tucked away in a basement on Bixteth Street — at the back end of the so-called ‘central business district’ — Sanskruti serves what I’d say is the best Indian food in Liverpool.
The menu is entirely vegetarian and vegan and pretty wide-ranging. There are curries and dhals from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab (all separated by region) as well as a selection of South Indian dosa. This is well as a menu of tandoori-baked starters and a smaller one of street food, like samosa chaat and sev puri.
Despite the extensive selection of dishes on offer everything is very well-executed — I’ve yet to eat a single thing at Sanskruti that hasn’t been excellent.
The amount of choice and the high quality of the food here means that it’s worth eating with as many other people as possible to maximise the number of different things you can try. It also means that I personally don’t tend to reorder dishes, for the same reason.
The exception to this rule is the Malai Kofta — crispy dumplings filled with buttery paneer simmering in a silken cashew and tomato gravy. Sweet and salty, with a gently warming hum of chilli pepper. The ideal partner to the restaurant’s huge ‘family size naan’: an elephant’s ear of soft bread slathered in garlic and ghee and served on a giant hook.
