Ever since coming to UK, I have been bombarded with questions on how to cook a particular curry or how to grill the perfect Kebab! Every British man (and women) I have met have some opinion about Indian food. It seems that the British know more about Indian curries than Indians themselves!
However, for an average British, the essential Indian food is the greasy disposable containers of red or yellow nutty sauce with a few pieces of meat or vegetables and lots of coriander leaves thrown in. Though it makes a pretty picture, my very unsophisticated palette finds all take-away Kurumas, Masalas and Jal Frezies taste like coming out of the same ‘Tesco readymade Sauce’ jar! This is indeed a sad picture, and I muse how we need ambassadors of Good Indian Food here! (No offence to the up market chefs in UK, we are talking about the lowly working class people like me who can’t afford to pay £8 for a good curry every Friday).
Years ago, when we first came to London as tourists (with tons of enthusiasm to make up for the infinitesimal wallet), we found our food haven in a tiny dhaba-style steel structure in the heart of Southhall, which used to dole out (rock-hard) idlies, (1 pound coin size) vadas and (runny) sambar for under a fiver! That tasted heavenly, after a week of munching on bland sandwiches and pies in a row. However, the first thought was, is this the standard of Indian Food available in UK?
Later on, having had chances to dine in good Indian Restaurants, I changed my opinion, though our current take out budget is still within 10 pounds and as a result we end up with the above mentioned pots of yellow Kurumas that taste sweeter than kheer or greasy masalas, out of which (if you manage to extract the oil), a family of 4 can cook their entire 3 day’s meal!
Make no mistakes, friends, this is not the finest of Indian food. Indian food offers something for every palette: tasty, tangy, sweet, salty, spicy, crunchy, soft and you name it, Indians have it! It has the right balance of tastes and textures and is one of the most sophisticated in the world, having taken shape in the palaces of Kings and having integrated the finest of techniques from the world cuisine! Above all, Indian food is healthy too!
How come we get passable Pizzas and juicy burgers for under 5, but when it comes to curries, it is either pay a ransom or be happy with something substandard?
Well, to keep up the trend of ‘curry-craze’, We need cheap and tasty take-aways , which
1. Offer us authentic Indian food
2. Not rob us of more than £10 for a meal
2. Not making us eat all that oil which will eventually block our arteries (or valves or veins? –
Excuse the ignorance, medical folks!).
Believe me, entrepreneurs, offer us proper Indian food, and there are millions to be made!
(This came here first: http://www.digbritain.co.uk/lifestyle/a-taste-of-india/
4 comments:
First post in curry nights!
Hey.............
The first thing attracted is the topic you have choosed.We all know that we need food to live and we earn firstly for that,still no body bother to think about it seriously. I liked the idea of a Indian Food Ambasador.
Go ahead Girl...
Priya
I agree that Indian food has something for every palate, and the world is really duped by what goes round in the name of Indian food (at least that is what all my cousins staying abroad say). So, yes, I back your call for authentic Indian food - vegetarian, non vegetarian, sweet, salty or spicy. Heck, even bland Indian food is an experience!
Unfortunately, wherever we go, be it US, Europe or Far east, in the restaurants, mostly we end up seeing an 'Indian' food item, completely metamorphosed into a new disguise conforming to the very particular regional taste! What a sad thing!
Want to have real Indian food? You must go to an Indian home and get it cooked by the homely Indian lady of the home.
And what about the southie cuisines? Rarely do we find those less oil, less thick curries or sorts in an eat-out joint!
Being the newly (self-)appointed food Ambassador of India, I also urge you to educate people about the elixir de-grand known as coconut oil! :)
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