Business Traveller’s art director (and resident chef) Annie Harris finds out the secrets of a top-notch curry.
Indian food is our most popular takeaway meal, and I’m sure many of us cook curries of one sort or another at home. The ingredients are easier to find than ever, but no matter how delicious our home-cooked food is, it rarely matches what you’ll enjoy in a good curry house.
So when I saw that Jay Morjaria, a regular guest chef on BBC Radio and TV cooking shows, had opened Sutra Kitchen on London’s Carnaby Street last year, and that he teaches the classes himself, I signed up.
Jay’s hope is to make vegetarian and vegan food more accessible to all, proving that meat-free cooking does not have to be dull. It was a freezing cold February morning when I joined him for a class, and a “Taste of India” course seemed an appropriate way to warm up.
My friend and I joined six other curry lovers and were welcomed by Jay into his cosy kitchens, already reassuringly filled with wafts of exotic spices. After the introductions, we paired up and got started by making red lentil dahl, frying onions until caramelised and golden brown – this seems to be the base to all good curries – and adding spices to roast and bring out their flavour, followed by lentils, chilli and water, then leaving to simmer.
We then moved on to Bombay aloo – cubes of gently spiced potato, using lots of whole seeds such as mustard and cumin, as well as fenugreek leaves to create that classic curry flavour. To accompany our dishes, we made a speedy cheat’s version of pilaf rice, which tasted as good as any I have had in my local Indian, and a cooling raita of yogurt and cucumber. By this time the lentils were soft, the potatoes done and it was just about lunchtime – perfect timing for sampling our efforts.
The whole morning was informal, hands-on and friendly, and by the end I had found out the key ingredients for an authentic curry. Surprisingly, they all seemed very healthy and non-greasy, using reasonably easy to source ingredients. As for the spices, while they appeared daunting, Jay explained how to prepare them and which to use, his knowledge passed down from the family spice import business. He also had some great tips, such as peeling ginger with a teaspoon to cut down on waste.
Jay’s style of cooking was very sociable, and showed us what could be prepared in advance and what to do on the night while still enjoying time with the family or dinner guests. Recipes are emailed to you at the end of the session, and classes cost £15-£290.
Jay is offering Business Traveller readers 20 per cent off courses – please mention when booking. Sutra Kitchen, unit 1 first floor Kingly Court, Carnaby Street; tel +44 (0)20 7734 7706; sutrakitchen.co.uk
The nation's favourite
Although the first British Indian restaurant was in a London coffee house in 1809, our passion for Indian food didn’t catch on until much later. The British enthusiasm for all things Indian spread to the expanding middle classes in the 19th century. Queen Victoria – the Empress of India – set the trend as she had Indian staff cooking Indian food for her every day. However, most Britons still dined mainly on red meat and home-grown vegetables.
It was during the Second World War that curry really caught on. A number of Indian sailors jumped ship or were abandoned at British ports such as Cardiff and London. These seamen from Sylhet – now a region of Bangladesh – bought bombed-out chip shops and cafés and skilfully adapted their dishes to suit a British sense of taste, selling them alongside the more familiar fish and chips, and staying open late to catch the after-pub trade – it was this business decision that sparked the tradition of the post-pub curry.
The seventies saw a wave of Bangladeshis emigrating to the UK, many of whom came to undesirable urban areas such as London’s East End. Many entered the catering trade and now they dominate the curry industry. Today, more than 80 per cent of all curry houses in the UK are run by Bangladeshi families, and chicken tikka masala has become the nation’s favourite dish – close to 43 million portions of it are served in restaurants in Britain each year.
However, in the past few years, something very different has been happening to Indian food. Curry has become posh. London’s Tamarind, Zaika, Rasoi, Quilon and Benares restaurants have each been awarded a Michelin star, and there are several other contenders snapping at their heels. The British consumer’s palate is becoming increasingly sophisticated when it comes to curry – they know what they like and they want to experience something new.
Indian food seems on the brink of a revolution, and Britain may even be at the cutting edge of Indian cooking. It may not have yet reached your local curry house, but it’s inevitable that the trend will spread across the country. And while the curry house is not about to disappear, the very existence of Michelin-starred Indian restaurants may signal the death of flock wallpaper, lager and onion bhajis. The new lighter, healthier, authentic Indian is just around the corner.
Staff picks: London curry houses
- Babur, 199 Brockley Rise, Forest Hill; tel +44 (0)20 8291 2400; babur.info
- Maurya, 16 Church Road, Stanmore; tel +44 (0)20 8416 0770; maurya.co.uk
- Namaaste Kitchen, 64 Parkway, Camden; tel +44 (0)20 7485 5977; namaastekitchen.co.uk
- The Painted Heron, 112 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea; tel +44 (0)20 7351 5232; thepaintedheron.com
- Rasa W1, 6 Dering Street, West End; tel +44 (0)20 7629 1346; rasarestaurants.com
- Tayyab’s, 83-89 Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel; tel +44 (0)20 7247 9543; tayyabs.co.uk
- The Royals, 769 Harrow Road; Sudbury; tel +44 (0)20 8904 0011; theroyalsrestaurant.co.uk
