How Indian British-curry differs from Traditional Indian-curry?

British curries share the same names and many ingredients with curries in India, but the recipes differ

- Some of the British Curries are creations of Indian restaurants in UK. These curries never existed in India, namely: Phall, Tindaloo, Balti, Chicken Tikka Masala.

- Some of the British Curries are Anglo-Indian created during British Raj, unheard by over 90% of the population in India, namely: Jalfrezi, Madras, Mulligatawny

Making British Curry

British Curry is fashioned after North Indian curry. It starts out as a feedstock of sautéed onions garlic and ginger. Appropriate spices are added to formulate a given sauce. An exemplar (Vegetable or meat) is added to the sauce to make curry. Combination of sauce and exemplar becomes the name of the curry. For example Madras sauce would make Chicken Madras, Lamb Madras, or Prawn Madras. Sometimes you wind up with a combination that would seem very odd in India, example: Chicken Rogan Josh. In India Rogan Josh is made with Mutton only.

- The emphasis has been on Chicken, Lamb, and Prawns. Restaurants operated by Moslems do not serve pork. Restaurants operated by Hindus may not serve beef. The vegetable curries seem to be an after-thought.

- Spices are streamlined in British curry. Asafoetida, Ajwain, and Hing are almost non-existent.

- Hot peppers from Thailand, Caribbean and South America are incorporated for heat. Most popular is Habaneras.

- Use of Mustard oil is rare

- British curries use artificial colors to make foods look appetizing. Artificial red food color is commonly used in Chicken Tikka Masala, Madras, Rogan Josh, and Tandoori chicken. Traditional red-coloring agents such as Ratan Jot, Maval petals, and Degi Mirch have disappeared. Yellow food color with a hint of red food color is used to emulate color of Saffron.

- In UK, food preparation and ingredients are somewhat consistent across the restaurants. In India, a curry with same name may be totally different from one restaurant to another even in the same neighborhood.
- British curry making is simpler than traditional curries, even a novice Gora Mem Saheb can master the cookery with reasonable ease.

Same name, different curry

New descriptions of curries have emerged in UK.

- Dhansak is a 'sweet and sour' meat curry with lentil puree. Pineapple is used to add sweetness. In India, there is no pineapple in Dhansak, you cannot have a Dhansak without pineapple in UK.

- In North India Rogan josh is braised mutton curry over low heat for long time, made with yogurt without tomatoes. The red color in traditional Rogan Josh is a result Ratan Jot and Degi Mirch. In UK, it is just another curry a slightly modified version of Madras including color.

- In India Pasanda (choice) refers to sirloin (choice cut) of Mutton. Traditional Pasanda is made with strips of sirloin, yogurt aromatic spices and ground cashews. In UK, Pasanda is virtually indistinguishable from Korma, except it is made even milder than Korma with tomato puree for differentiation.

- In UK, Do Piyaz has become a modified Bhuna dish with onions added at two stages. Finely chopped onions are added in the beginning. Wide coarse chopped onions (sautéed/caramelized) are added near the end of cooking. Traditional Do Piyaz used onions equaling two times the weight of meat in a dry curry, it was not meant to be that onions are added in two stages

Vegetable Curries

A wide range of tropical seasonal vegetables are used in India to make curries. In UK, the choice is limited. Parmal, Jimikand, Kathal, Bhein, Lauki, Tinda, Bathua are non-existent in UK. Commonly used vegetables in UK are: Spinach, Potatoes, Winter squash (substitute for Indian pumpkin), Carrots, Cauliflower, Mushrooms, Eggplant, and Okra. Paneer (Indian cheese) is a favorite add-in item in British curries. Occasionally, you might find Karela and Mustard greens. The Vegetable British curries are close in preparation to traditional Indian curries.

Google Group | Disclaimer | What do you think!