The owner of an Indian restaurant claims he has launched the first entirely nut-free menu at a restaurant serving the cuisine in Bristol.
Vinay Mandadid launched Dhamaka on Clare Street in December 2018 and earned positive reviews from critics, including Bristol Live's Mark Taylor, and regular diners.
With a kitchen headed up by chef Jyotirmoy Patra, who has worked in notable restaurants in India and five-star hotels in Dubai, the casual dining restaurant specialises in small plates inspired by typical Indian street food.
After building up the restaurant's reputation, Vinay has now launched a new nut-free menu which he says is the first of its kind in Bristol, choosing to do so after reading about a number of deaths caused by people inadvertently eating nuts at other Indian restaurants in the UK.
Popular dishes at most Indian restaurants such as korma, tikka massala and pasanda commonly include cashew nuts and ground almonds, but this is no longer the case at Dhamaka, meaning people with nut allergies can dine there without stress.
Vinay said: "Jyoti has called on his vast amount of experience to come up with a korma sauce recipe which uses sunflower seeds and watermelon seeds, instead of cashew nuts.
"He found that toasting them leaves them with a perfect nutty flavour. We discovered that this was the best alternative to nuts without compromising on flavour.
"We have been receiving great feedback for our new nut-free korma from customers who have tried it, and many said they couldn't tell the difference.
"We believe this is the first of its kind and it's a big relief for the large number of people who have nut allergies to eat in a restaurant without having to worry about cross contamination."
The new menu includes a range of small plates and snacks ideal for sharing and an extensive list of larger main courses for hungrier diners.
Vinay said that rather than keeping the restaurant's new nut-free recipes a secret, he wants to share them with other restaurateurs so the cuisine can be enjoyed more freely by people with allergies.
And it's not just the food which is now completely nut free at Dhamaka, with Vinay also banning all products which contain traces of nut, including Amaretto.
Dhamaka is located at 15 Clare Street, Bristol, BS1 1XH. More information can be found on its website.
