Indian cult chicken guru comes to Carousel

Goila Butter Chicken, a Mumbai-based single-dish concept billed as a cult version of “India’s favourite dish”, has arrived in the UK with this week’s opening of an extended residency in the new 10-seater ‘incubator space’ at Carousel, the guest-chef restaurant that moved into new premises in Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, in November.

Indian TV chef Saransh Goila founded the venture in 2016, and is now ready to launch it on the global market. His not-so-secret recipe brings a smokey note to the flavour, along with high-quality ethical ingredients – which in London means free-range chickens from Yorkshire and French butter, cooked over eco-friendly charcoal from FSC-certified forests. He also defies the traditional cheffy mantra that “fat is flavour” by boosting the tomato-to-dairy ratio from butter chicken’s standard 60:40 to 80:20 – resulting, he claims, in a healthier and less greasy meal.

Another convention GBC rejects is the long Indian restaurant menu that caters to every taste. Its butter chicken is served with dal makhni, jeera rice, sourdough naan, and pickled shallots and coriander chutney. The only choices on offer are a GBC fried chicken burger variation, with home-made paneer as the vegetarian option.

GBC’s long-term residency is a follow-up to Saransh’s sold-out fortnight as a guest chef at the old Carousel in Marylebone in 2020. At the time, Carousel’s director Ed Templeton said: “My brother Ollie and I are life-long ardent curry fans. When we tried the butter chicken it blew our minds, and we knew we had to make it a thing here in London.” 

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