Four master chefs from Indian and Bangladeshi restaurants in Britain have travelled to Kolkata in India to showcase British curries at the 10-day Taste of Britain Curry Festival. Reports say the dishes have gone down a storm for their novelty value. The TV cook and author Anjum Anand explains what differentiates British and Indian curries . . .
The word "curry" is a very vague term in India because there are so many regions and cultures. Curry typically means "sauce", though. The main difference between curries in India and Britain is that the British ones are a little bit sweeter and thicker. In India, curries tend to have more sourness, mainly from the use of tomatoes, which is a traditional ingredient in the north. Nut pastes are more expensive to use in India, so they tend to be more prevalent in British curries. I've had some Indian friends staying with me recently and they said that they found British curries far too oily and didn't want to eat them. Overall, I would say the flavours are murkier in British curries.
British curry recipes have been restaurant led, whereas they typically come from the home in India. This means that the same sauces are used for different meats here, which is not the case in India where, say, chicken and lamb sauces would not be interchangeable. The closest British curries come to anything you find in India is probably the north Indian style, typified by Punjabi cooking – lentils, potatoes, paneer with spinach and so on. But Indian food in Britain is evolving, too, with the increasing number of Keralan restaurants.
Britain's favourite curry, chicken tikka masala, is based on the Indian dish commonly known as "butter chicken". Chicken is marinated in yoghurt and spices, cooked in a tandoori oven, then covered in a creamy tomato sauce. The difference is the British version is slightly sweeter.
Heat from chillies seems to be used in Britain to mask the taste. A vindaloo in Britain is nothing like the true vindaloo you would be served in Goa. If you tried a restaurant dish in India it would have a medium heat. Indians wouldn't comment on the heat of a dish really, just the taste.