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The Dynamic world of the British CURRY.

Muzzwell

Muzzwell

Hi guys,

I have been eating curry since I was 5 (an English 1970's version) We even got served it at our infamous school diners (lunches). It was either that or fried SPAM and chips (but the meat in the curry you wouldn't give to a dog and the SPAM neither {no wonder I am so beautiful and talented}). The British were obviously influenced by India, Pakistan and ShriLanka etc... Thankfully the school diners didn't kill my appetite for curry. But what we have made of it over the years is nothing like what you would find on the Indian sub-continent. But even so it is a fantastic method of cooking and incorporating Chillies and spice. I was shocked to learn that India only got chillies in the late 15th century.

I noticed that most members here live in the US. Do you in the states eat curry, If so what types? Do you get the British brand PATAKS there?

If not you don't know what you are missing.

Cheers,

Mark.
 
In the states "curry" is mostly a seasoning not dish. Every now and then you meet one of us who even knows what someone from Britain(Or Japan) means when they say they want a "curry"
 
DaQatz said:
In the states "curry" is mostly a seasoning not dish. Every now and then you meet one of us who even knows what someone from Britain(Or Japan) means when they say they want a "curry"
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I would take exception to that statement; I grew up on the east coast and have been eating curry (lamb, chicken, and beef) since I was 5 or 6. I've been cooking it since I was 18 (I'm 65 now) and I love it; one of my favorite dishes.
The curry powders I've eaten and cooked with were commercial and custom made; and I often mixed different types to get the flavor and heat I wanted. My favorite came from the Pike Street Market in Seattle. I think it largely depends on where one grew up and how international the cooking of ones parents was; mine was all over the planet. Cheers.
 
We have PATAKS even in Texas . Great short cut if you want to use it. We have a new Indian restaurant here that's super, been eating there once a week since we found it. I also love Thai style curry dishes.

What do you mean by "English Type" curry ? A milder version ? Or What ....

Peace,
P. Dreadie
 
P. Dreadie said:
We have PATAKS even in Texas . Great short cut if you want to use it. We have a new Indian restaurant here that's super, been eating there once a week since we found it. I also love Thai style curry dishes.

What do you mean by "English Type" curry ? A milder version ? Or What ....

Peace,
P. Dreadie
Click to expand...

According to my Brit friends, "English style" is that sold in England which was probably Anglicized to British Isles taste. One has to remember that India was a colony of Britain for many years.
I'm only familiar with curry from Indian restaurants in America, Thailand, and Lao; it's all the same plus or minus a bit, so it must be authentic, no? Cheers.
 
I think many of the larger cities in the US are starting to take on a foodie nature over the last 10 years or so. I live in Pittsburgh PA and even here, being a smaller Metropolitan, we are starting to see many ethic restaurants around the city. I have been to a few Indian restaurants in the last couple of years and have tried different curry dishes. I do not know how traditional they are or if they have been manipulated to meet the tastes of the US populations. I will say even when I get the 10 heat level on the curries they are still disappointingly mild, and I thought curry was suppose to be one of the spicier foods from around the world.
 
what great timing for this thread, I just made some fantastic chicken curry last night, gonna have the left overs today for lunch. :)
 
Mesatrin.
I agree with your post Ive been to Florida on quite a few holidays over the past few years and always go into the Indian restaurants for a meal,if i order say a Madras curry which is medium to hot in the UK it has always been mild,i put this down to the Americans not being used to Hot spicy food.But then you have a lot of Mexican restaurants in the USA so i would have thought you would have been more used to spicy food unless the Mexican restaurants in the USA don't serve spicy hot food.
The amount of Indian restaurants in the UK (which are nearly all Bangladeshi restaurants) has grown by a phenomenal amount over the last 10-15 years until they are now easily the most widespread restaurant type in the UK.And the popularity of Chillies has also grown with most major supermarkets now stocking quite a few different varieties including Dorset naga and Scotch Bonnets.
 
I mostly cook Thai curries, but they are fairly similar to the Indian ones, with the exception the Indian ones use curry leaves and cardamon.
 
I use curry powder every once in awhile, I think Spice Island brand. An Indian/Trinidad lady I work with said this is not real curry and is supposed to get me some from Trinidad. The best curry dish I had was from a Thai place, called Volcano coconut chicken curry, it was really good.
 
I eat curry dishes every week. Last week I made a big pot of Dal, and have been eating it every night for dinner.
I agree with American restaurants not making meals very spicy. I think they are afraid to.
 
The US with a population of 310 million has 2.7 million Asian Indians, United Kingdom with a population of 62 million has 1 million Asian Indians, Canada with a population of 34 million has 1 million Asian Indians. I would think the higher the percentage of main population would expose people to more ethnic culture but I would bet there are pockets of east indian populations in the US where you may find true to word curry. Streets in one of our major city(Vancouver suburb - Surrey) are labeled in both english and I am assuming hindi as their is a large east indian population.

That being noted, I can say I have never had a curry or an authentic indian curry, I have eated in an east indian restuarant that had currys but I wouldn't be able to describe what I had because it has been so long and I don't remember if the food was spicy hot or just spicy. I have an east indian restaurant and grocery store 5 minutes from my house. I do frequent the grocery store for spices but have never eaten in the restaurant - perhaps because of the short hours they keep(I beleive they close between 7-8pm). I use curry powder, garam marsala, tumeric, cumin, corriander, fenugreek daily. Pataks brand products are readily available here in all common grocery stores, their products are expensives and we can get authentic indian brands for cheaper.

I wonder if one could classify Cajun food as US style curry, much like English style curry. Many cajun foods are thicked sauced, very spicy, can be hot and served over rices, can contain various meats and vegetables and/or legumes like red kidney beans. Just google cajun and see the plethora of receipes. How about beef stew, could it be a curry? Not beef soup but a thick stew with meat and vegetables with a flour thickened sauce - I put curry powder in mine along with kung pao peppers. What about Jambalya, its thick, can have sausage/chicken/shrimp in rice. Gumbo, chicken or other can it be called curry? I did a google on curry to see if I could get a good description of what a curry really is and it covers such a wide range.

(My daughters were raised in a Pakistani dayhome for seven years, at times when I picked them up in the evening, the smell of the food cooking made my tummy rumble, at other times, when I got them home I had to put their clothes & backpacks outside and put them into the shower as the spice scent was that strong).
 
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