YOU do not have to travel all the way to India to get an authentic flavour of the country.

All you need to do is go to the Spice Gallery in North Petherton, where your taste buds will explode with delectation and delight.

The well established business is not your run of the mill Indian restaurant and is not a curry house, it offers more than this by giving the customer a fine dining experience packed with big Indian flavours.

To stay ahead of their competitors, The Spice Gallery has a secret weapon - their chef Aysan Shaikh.

Somerset County Gazette:

The master chef who has been a professional for 24 years did appear in the F Word presented by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay in 2010.

Aysan has worked as a chef at Michelin star restaurants and has been given free reign to transform the menu at the Spice Gallery so it now has his signature style dishes.

He said: “I knew about this establishment before I came here and it does an incredible level of business.

"What I wanted to do was to lift it to the next level of Indian cuisine.

"I have designed my own creations and the menu is full of freshness and invention.

It uses fresh local produce where possible. I wanted to create a menu which was big on Indian flavour and had no artificial additives.

"I take time to prepare each meal and what is served up is not just a curry, it is more than that.

"We do offer is fine dining and intense flavours.”

Aysan picked up his love of cooking from his mother who he says still makes a better curry than him.

She taught him how to use spices but he has built on this and has more experience of how to cook and how to produce the perfect meal.

Somerset County Gazette:

He said: “I love to do something new and I think a lot about cooking. I always want to give the customers something new.

That is why I change the menu every couple of months. The latest menu which I aim to bring out will have a lot more sea food on it.”

Many youngsters want to enter the cooking profession and want to become a chef or a head chef.

Somerset County Gazette:

What advice would Aysan give them? He said: “The advice I would give for anyone who wants to be a chef is you have to give 100 per cent.

"You have to love what you do, you have to love cooking and you have to keep learning.

"Cooking Indian food means you have to have a great understanding of spices and how to blend them.”

The menu includes: Starters:

Kumb Palak Tikki - Spinach, potato and cottage cheese mixed with stuffed and sauteed mushroom, served with carrot chutney

Grilled Scallops - Scottish scallops marinated with paprika, crushed pepper and salt, grilled and served with smoky red pepper and tomato chutney

Teen Tarah Ki Murgh - Three types of chicken breasts kebabs marinated with our chefs own special spices and roasted in the tandoor served with mint and a mustard honey sauce.

Gosht Shami Kebab - Welsh lamb and yellow lentils cooked together and whole pieces and pan fried served with pickled red onion chutney

Mains Murgh Shalimar -Chicken marinated with ginger and garlic paste and paprika, pan fried and smothered with caramelised onions, tomatoes sauce and sauteed spinach. Served with choice of either a plain naan or pulao rice.

Meena Policahdu - Kerala special dish, Seabass, pan-fired and served with coconut milk, caramelised opinions, aubergine bhajee and asparagus served with boiled rice Roasted Duck English Duck breast grilled with salt and paprika, served with broccoli bhajee and a honey glazed sauce, served with garlic naan

Malai Chingri - Bengal King Prawns simmered in a smooth coconut and mustard sauce with sauteed spinach and served with a choice of either a peshwari naan or pulao rice

Elachi Beef - Beef rump steak roasted in the oven served with butter nut squash and smooth cardamom sauce served with lemon rice

Ratan Manjosha - Mashed spinach, potato and cottage cheese mini kofta dumplings served with smooth tomato and cashew nut based sauce and served with a choice of either boiled rice or plain naan

Somerset County Gazette:

For further details go online at spicegallery.co.uk