Cooking | Health | Nutrition | Weight Gain | Weight Loss | Women | Baby | Social Planning | SITEMAP

F A Q | Cleaners | Cookware | Coffee | Dairy | Hints | History | Spice | Storage | Term

Is Curry National food of UK?

There is no official national food in UK. During mid 1800s, Fish and chips became the most popular item. Nowadays, Curry leads the ethnic takeaways

With industrial revolution came the take-away foods in UK. The take-away business created the famous national dishes such as 'Fish and Chips', Mushy peas, Steak and Kidney pie with mashed potatoes. By 1980, ethnic food became a significant factor. The ethnic food sector is split into six sub-sectors: Indian, Chinese, Mexican/Tex-Mex, Thai, Caribbean, and Others. By 1980, Balti take-away became popular in West Midlands. By 1990, Indian restaurants had become common place all over the country. Note following statistics according to British Foods Standards Agency

- Over 8,000 Indian Restaurants

- Indian Restaurants out number Chinese restaurants by two to one

- India food industry is worth 3.2 Billion Pounds, accounting for two thirds of all eating out.

- Indian restaurants employ over 70,000 workers

- Indian restaurants serve nearly 2.5 million customers per week

- Chicken Tikka Masala sales out number 'Fish and Chips' sales.

Indian Foods in UK

Many Indian foods served in UK are Anglo-Indian developed during British Raj. Over 90% of population in India has never heard of these dishes. The examples are Jal Frezi, and Madras Curry. Vindaloo is just a regional dish in Goa based on Portuguese Cuisine

Many Indian Foods served in UK are actually not Indian, they are 'Indian British Food' instead.. These items originated at Indian Restaurants located in UK. Examples are: Balti, Chicken Tikka Masala, Phall Curry, Tindaloo.

In 1977, Kashmiri-Pakistan population created Balti in Birmingham exclusively for British palate as a spicy hot stir-fry. In Urdu, Balti means bucket (pail). Food has never been been cooked in a bucket in anywhere in India. The dish was named Balti as a joke on the un-suspecting British population. After the dish became popular, it came to be known as Balti style cooking. Restaurant owners quickly fabricated a false story crediting the Balti tribe of Baltistan with the cooking style. The restaurants even started to cook and serve the dish in a specially ordered flat-bottomed iron pot as a gimmick.

The Tandoori Chicken was too dry for the palate of the British, so a dip was created at an Indian Restaurant leading to the creation of 'Chicken Tikka Masala' that in time would strip the 'Fish and Chips' of its title of national dish in UK

Phall Curry is the hottest dish made with Habaneras. These peppers are not even grown in India. The name 'Phall' was created as a joke in a Restaurant from the word 'Phallus' to prove the manhood of a person by eating the hot Phall curry. When Phall curry became popular, restaurants credited the name to Phall in Bangalore, except that the Phall in Bangalore is a spiced Goat Kebab broiled over hot charcoal.

Tindaloo is at least based on a Goa dish called Vindaloo but taken to another level in pungency by adding Habaneras

In UK, the first curry on a menu appeared in 1773 at Curry House located on Norris Street in London's Haymarket. The first Indian restaurant was opened by Dean Mahomet from Patna. He joined the East Indian Company and rose to the rank of Subedar. He came to Britain in 1784 and married a widow Jane Daly, 'a pretty Irish girl of respectable parentage'. In 1809, he established 'Hindostanee Coffee House at 34 George Street, Portman Square in London as recorded in Epicure's Almanack. The restaurant did not serve coffee. It offered a place 'for the Nobility and Gentry where they may enjoy Hookah with real Chilm tobacco and Indian dishes of the highest perfection'. In 1812, Mahomet left the restaurant and filed for bankruptcy. The restaurant closed its doors in 1833. Mahomet was appointed 'Shampooing surgeon' to King George IV and died in 1851

Indian restaurants have come a long way from the days of Hindostanee Coffee House. 'Chicken Tikka Masala' has replaced the 'Fish and Chips' as Britain's national dish. Still, Indian curry lacks one major dimension, it can not be called a national food of UK until Gora Mem Sahibs would start making it at home as a normal routine.