Curry Comes Home at Taste of Britain Curry Festival in Pune

Curry Life took a team of top chefs over to Pune in India to take part in The British Curry Festival. We take a look at how the great British curry went down back on the Indian subcontinent.

For ten years now, Curry Life magazine has been showcasing the talents of British based Bangladeshi and Indian chefs in many different countries including the Indian subcontinent where curry had its birth.

Visitors to Curry Life festivals in India and Bangladesh are always curious about the British curry industry and how Chicken Tikka Masala has won over the hearts and taste buds of diners in a country renowned for the blandness of its cuisine. But curry and Indian food in the UK is literally a world away from how it is back on the subcontinent. Adapted to suit the timorous British palate and fresh, locally sourced ingredients, British curry has gained an identity of its own. The question is – how does the Anglicised version compare with its Indian counterpart? Has it become (dare we say) even better? And can our chefs now teach the Indian people a thing or two about making curry?

The answer, it would seem is that they can - the latest conquest of the great British curry took place in November 2012 when Curry Life Magazine jetted a team of selected chefs over to the Hotel Hindustan International in the Maharashtrian city of Pune near Mumbai.

The culinary masters hailed from some of the finest Indian restaurants in the UK: Chef Abul Monsur of Taj Cuisine in Chatham; Chef Allam Shah Ullah of Cutler’s Spice in Sheffield, and Kaysar Ahmed of Zeera in Potters Bar, led by master chef and festival veteran Partha Mittra of The Snooty Mehmaan in Oxfordshire. The four pooled their talents to create a buffet of fifty quintessentially British curry dishes for the local diners. In addition to the tried and trusty fare so loved by the UK public (including the ubiquitous Chicken Tikka Masala), citizens of Pune could indulge in more exotic recipes like Fish Balti Exotica, Nimbu Chicken with honey glazed carrots, Shatkora Chicken and Chana Aloo Gratin.

 

Not only did the festival curry favour for the chefs in their home towns, but, coinciding, as it did, with a new explosion of interest in international food on the subcontinent, members of the Indian press flocked to the launch event. It would seem that westernised tastes are becoming more popular in India. The cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore are seeing new restaurants opening up every month, many started by foreign entrepreneurs who tempt Indian diners with foods they have never tasted before. In this climate, the concept of bringing British curry dishes back to India could be seen as a potential crowd puller.

Festival organiser Syed Belal Ahmed explained: “There is an appetite for British curry despite the vast range of indigenous cuisine on offer in the subcontinent. British curries are unique – they are much milder and healthier. When we take our Balti dishes from the UK to India there is always a buzz in the media– everyone wants to try these.”

 

 

“People in India and Bangladesh are always surprised by the fact that Indian restaurants are now found in abundance in every British city and town,” said chef Abul Monsur. “They are curious about why curry has become so popular and tasting British-Indian fusion dishes prepared by chefs who have actually come over from the UK gives them a chance to find out why.”

 

Diners, initially sceptical as to whether the Anglicized version of curry could be as tasty as Indian specialties were for the most part, won over by the new flavours and healthy cuisine. Allam Shah Ullah who owns the Gleadless Town End restaurant Cutler’s Spice was surprised at how well his dishes went down with the locals: “They seemed to love the fact that we keep our vegetables crunchier and our meat off the bone,” he said, “Many commented on how tasty and fresh the food, although some said they were not as hot as the Indian versions.”

“The way curry is made is different over here,” explained Partha Mittra, one time chef to a former Indian Prime Minister. “We use fewer spices and many of them are European herbs. The sauces and gravies are creamier and sweeter and a lot less oil and butter is used so the British version is often healthier.”

 Kaysar Ahmed, whose dishes included prawns cooked in wine with broccoli and cheese agreed: “Our British curries are made with fresh English herbs like mint, tarragon and basil and rosemary. They give a recognisable Western taste that suits the British palate. We also use olive oil instead of fully-saturated vegetable oil because it contains less fat and we cut down on salt and sugar in our preparations for the curries to be healthier. We also often serve salads as a side dish.”

And in a country where diabetes has the highest prevalence in the world and cardiac disease is on the up, healthy eating is becoming more and more of a priority for upwardly mobile Indian people. The festival might even have set a precedent for bold entrepreneurs to start up a restaurant on South Asian soil specialising in curry with a British twist.

Throughout the festival, diners and were guided by the chefs who were only too happy to explain the subtle differences in flavour in the fusion dishes. But it was not only an opportunity to show off British/Indian cuisine. When it was time to go home, all four chefs said the experience had taught them a lot about cooking methods and ingredients used in dishes in India and agreed they would use their new knowledge to create exciting dishes for customers in their own restaurants. 

“The main aim of the British Curry Festival is to foster the British chefs’ leadership role in the evolution of curry to meet the demands of the increasingly discerning taste of British food enthusiasts,” said the co-organiser of the festival, Syed Nahas Pasha. “But we have found that an increasingly important side product is of promoting British Bangladeshi/Indian chefs and cuisine all over the world. That is especially rewarding when it happens in the place where curry was born.”

 

 

Participating chefs: Abul Monsur, Taj Cuisine, 1 Sherwood House, Walderslade Centre, Chatham, Kent  ME5 9UD Tel: 01634 68668; Allam Shah Ullah, Cutler’s Spice, 1 Leighton Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire Tel: 0114 241 6868; Kaysar Ahmed,Zeera, 5 Southgate Road, Potters Bar EN6 4DR Tel: 0170 643778; Organising Chef: Partha Mittra, The Snooty Mehmaan, Littleworth, Farringdon, Oxfordshire SN7 8PW Tel: 01367 242260

 

 

 

Jewel in the Crown

Having sampled the cuisine of Abul Monsur at four British Fusion Festivals, the Curry Life team was keen to see the executive chef at work on his home ground, so it was with a sense of pleasant anticipation that we headed off to Taj Cuisine in North Kent in the Medway town of Walderslade.

Walderslade was quiet on a Sunday night and the Walderslade Shopping Centre was even quieter - the only thing lacking was the tumbleweed blowing across the deserted car park. Fully prepared to be the only diners in the restaurant, we could not have been more wrong. Entering Taj Cuisine was like being transported into a different world altogether – a world that was full of colour, life and people. It was only 7pm but the restaurant was already abuzz with customers and smiling waiters bustling about brandishing dishes heaped with mouth-watering fare with tantalising aromas.

In the midst of all a beaming executive chef Abul appeared from the kitchen to offer a warm welcome. It’s always good to see Abul who’s one of the most modest and quietly accomplished chefs we’ve had the pleasure to meet. This rare attribute is probably one of the reasons for his nickname – Jewel. Winner of the 2005 Medway Curry Chef of the Year competition, Abul beat off competition from all the other Asian restaurants in the area – and there are a lot of top restaurants around Medway. Nevertheless, in categories of good hygiene and the appearance, aroma, texture and taste of dishes, Taj Cuisine was judged the best.

Abul has also represented British curry chefs at the Taste of Britain and British Fusion Festivals held in Dhaka, Kolkata and Madrid when his award-winning fusion recipes were showcased at five-star hotels and top restaurants to international acclaim.

Throughout 2010 Taj Cuisine received yet more accolades, awarded Outstanding Restaurateur of the Year from the Federation of Bangladeshi Caterers UK and nominated for the prestigious Spice Times Restaurant Awards and BCA Best Caterer of the Year awards.

The chef is typically generous and modest when asked about his numerous awards; “I feel both happy and proud to have won, but everybody is winner,” says Abul.

Established for ten years now, Taj Cuisine has its own indelible character. Situated in one of the main commercial outlets of the area, the Walderslade Centre, the interior of the restaurant has a local atmosphere and is warm and refreshingly different without being ostentatiously flashy.

Plush blue carpets make sound levels pleasantly muted, lead up to a green lit bar area which divides the space and gives a feeling of intimacy. Blinds and high back black leather chairs, alcove lighting and marble effect wallpaper complete the picture.

The menu itself is a work of art, presented in book form with representative dishes from the three main regions of Indian cuisine; Persian and Muglai dishes rub shoulders with Thali and Ceylonese and of course, Bengali.

Abul believes that cooking should come straight from the heart and the unique range of world fusion dishes created by the master chef himself is perhaps what lifts the menu from the very good category into the extraordinary.

As Abul tells us, a lot of this stems from his experience at the international food festivals where he has the opportunity to research and learn from other types of cuisine. “When I go abroad, I learn new ideas and then back home, try them out and develop them,” he told us, “Then I experiment with samples and get customer feedback to find out how successful they are in the restaurant. If it’s good, I incorporate the dishes into the menu.”

Chef’s Delicacy Dishes include a very interesting concoction of dishes and flavours with an international emphasis. English Lamb Shank – cooked on the bone with a hint of mint and aromatic spices, green peppers with coriander, ginger and mustard – was one of the dishes we were fortunate enough to sample. Having encountered several versions of the dish in the past, this one, with its rather more exotic tang, was superlative.

From the Scottish highlands, the Salmon Sharisha, marinated for several hours and shallow fried with herbs and spices, served with lemon, was given a new dimension.

The traditional Bangladeshi and Bengali dish of Sobij Machti - Bengal fish fillet medium spiced and cooked with mustard, capsicum – is, unusually for the UK - served in a steamed leaf. Sehmoli Gosht consists of a specially spiced lamb dish cooked with Shatkora, green chillies, ginger and garlic. But the Chingri prawn dish which we had as a starter – gigantic king prawns deeply fried and served with a mixture of Abul’s special herbs and spices was perhaps most memorable and succulent of all the dishes we tasted.

In spite of the present economic situation, Taj Cuisine seems to be faring very well indeed. We asked Abul how he has managed to achieve this.

“Yes, business has been good,” he agreed, “I think our strength lies in the fact that we have a very good name locally. We’ve become known as a more family friendly establishment which means we’ve had to discourage the pub trade and turn away people who’ve had too much to drink - although it’s good business, unfortunately we can’t cater for everybody in that instance and in the long run, it’s paid off.”

Taj Cuisine is one of the brightest gems in the Medway crown and, no doubt, will go on to win many more awards in the future – with an executive chef named Jewel, it’s hardly surprising!

Taj Cuisine, 1 Sherwood House, Walderslade Centre, Walderslade Road, Chatham, Kent ME5 9UD

Tel: 01634 686 648 www.tajcuisine.co.uk

The Taste of Britain Curry Festival Took Kolkata by Storm – Can We Do the Same in Bangladesh?

In a Kolkata steaming in the hottest pre-monsoon April for 52 years, as a volcano wreaked havoc in the skies over faraway Britain, the Taste of Britain Food Festival was launched at the 5-star Hotel Hindustan International. In true coals to Newcastle fashion, the event aimed to introduce the public of Kolkata to the famous institution of British curry, highlighting one of the greatest culinary success stories of our age.

It was no accident that Kolkata was chosen as the venue for a festival that featured British/Bangladeshi chefs. The economic centre of West Bengal, it was the former capital of the British Raj, it’s the place where the British received their penchant for Indian food; in short it’s where curry was born.

As local and national media assembled for the press launch of the 10-day Taste of Britain Festival, there was a palpable buzz of excitement in the air. The focus of attention was our four master chefs from Britain and Bangladesh selected from across the UK to present their successful signature dishes for the delight of city gourmets.

We’d been told that Kolkatans, renowned for their love of food and dining, were a bit sceptical as to what Bangladeshis from the culinary wastelands of Britain could possibly teach Indians about their own cuisine? And not only food – we’d even brought our own version of an Indian beverage; Bangla Premium Beer, brewed to an old Bengali recipe - in Manchester, UK.

Production teams, journalists and food critics lined up for interviews as the imposing figure of the Partha Mittra, executive chef of the Bengal Dynasty in Chester, took centre stage to explain that British curries tend to use less ghee, colour and salt than Bengali recipes. Softer on the palate and milder, they are more flavoursome and healthy with the quality of ingredients being of paramount importance, he told journalists.

Meanwhile, top UK chefs; Abul Monsur of Taj Cuisine in Chatham, Ataur Rahman Harun of the Taj Mahal in Stevenage and Pintu Rosario, of the Dhaka Sheraton presented their individually created signature dishes of rosemary infused Chicken Dumplings, a quintessentially English Roast Lamb Jardaloo, Broccoli and Rosemary Meat Ball Curry and Balti Fish Exotica dishes to an eager posse of reporters.

Over the next ten days, excitement generated by the launch of the festival showed no signs of dying down as restaurant bookings went up and up. Festival organisers Syed Belal Ahmed and Syed Nahas Pasha continued to be feted by national and international dailies. As word of the skills of the British/Bangladeshi- based Indian chefs spread, guests included restaurateurs from all over the city; even the Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK dropped in to find out what the fuss was about. Festival goers were intrigued and enthusiastic but a little bit confused. Their main curiosity was about the Balti dishes said to have originated in Birmingham. People were divided as to whether British curries would catch on in India. Some wondered if they might find anglicised curries a bit on the bland side; Bengali cuisine is famous for its dhal based recipes. It favours sour tasting tamarind or yoghurt flavoured dishes, strong fish steamed with oil and spices, aubergines, ubiquitous mango dishes and paneer.

We’re pleased to report that the vast majority were enthusiastic converts. The festival was pronounced a huge success; sales were up 18%; customer feedback was excellent and people were surprised by the mildness and the flavour of the food. British curries were described as being more healthful, lighter and better presented. Utpal Mondal, executive chef at HHI, expressed a desire to include some of the Balti dishes on the menu in the future (with the addition of a little more spice) and dismay at the team’s imminent departure. It would seem that British curry and the chefs had won the day. As the volcanic dust cleared across the world, the monsoon kicked in to herald our departure.