Take-Away - Shabab, Swinegate

In January I took the family to Bristol to repay a gambling debt to Mr S.  The debt was a curry, and the reason behind the debt was football.  I'm a Leeds United fan, I don't get down to Elland Road all that often.  When I do we usually lose, so it's probably a good job that I don't go.  Mr S is a Reading fan and we have a standing arrangement that the fan of the losing side has to buy a curry for the winner.  Now that we both have families this has grown from a £5 wager to something closer to a £50 bet (depending on the curry house).

The curry in January was all due to a defeat at Elland Road.  The second match of the season between these two footballing giants* was in Reading in April.  United were down to ten men when Thompson was sent off after thirteen minutes and the writing was on the cards.  Surprisingly Leeds held on until the dying minutes of the game before Reading scored and Mr S sent me a text message asking when he could have his second curry of the season!

To his credit and with the extended Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend looming, Mr S brought his family to Leeds to claim his prise.  I had taken Mr S to Shabab on a previous visit and he had since declared the dish he'd eaten "the best curry ever" so I didn't have to think about where to buy my take-away.

We decided to skip starters, even though there is a really good selection at Shabab, and head straight for the main event.  Mr S went for his favourite, Lamb Nehari, while the rest of us chose chicken Afghani Karahi, lamb Achaar, and chicken Mirch with side dishes of Palak Paneer and Dall Makhni.  I knew the food would be good as I have never been disappointed with Shabab, either eating in or taking out.  I'm not sure it was worth losing for, but the defeat didn't spoil the meal.

Next season, as we are now in different leagues, the bet is on who finishes highest in their respective league.  I'm hoping that Warnock will be able to win Leeds the league and me a curry in the process!

*making both teams look normal sized.