Can the British curry take off in India?

[DavidDvorkin]

This is a wonderful story of historical cultural cross-pollination.

At a festival in Calcutta, British chefs are bringing their version of curries back to India. But will the British curry prove a hit with those used to the real thing, asks the BBC's Rahul Tandon.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8635456.stm

[JI7]

1. can British Curry take off in Britain ?

[Sebastian Doyle]

2. My prediction

is that it will go over about as well as a Taco Bell in Mexico. Or a Panda Express in Beijing.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. +1, by the way there WAS a Taco Bell

on Reforma, by the Pink Zone...

What were the customers? American Tourists. We locals stuck to the Taco stand on the other side.

[johnroshan]

4. You are overlooking the attitude of Indians to see anything "Foreign" as hip and cool. /nt

[TlalocW]

5. Lemon curry? (Mixed look of disgust/disbelief)

Monty Python FTW!!!

TlalocW

[enlightenment]

6. Why not? A curry is just a sauce - if it's well-done and tastes good

then it will be appreciated.

It's interesting that they use the phrase 'the real thing' . . . I've had so many curries made by 'real' Indians and the only thing they have in common is some similarity of spices. If I eat a dozen baltis, made by a dozen different Indian cooks - which one is the 'real' one?

And they've been eating curry for a long time in the UK - have you seen "The Forme of Cury" ?

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/foc/

[provis99]

7. bleecch. Any kind of British food is not going to "take off".

British food is by definition anti-cuisine.

[Berserker]

8. OK thats it

I am telling chef Ramsey.

[JCMach1]

9. +1, until you have tried the real thing, with the real, fresh spices...

done by experienced hands...

What I have eaten in Britain hardly qualifies as curry...

[T_i_B]

11. I suggest you get yourself to a good curry house

And you will change your opinion.

[cali]

13. uh, British food

hasn't been yucky in a very long time. Not only is London one of the great restaurant cities- many people rate it higher than London or NY, but excellent cooking and good ingredients can be found all across England.

Really.

[Redemption Seeker]

10. I doubt it!

Kind of like telling us Canucks how to make bacon! :evilgrin:

[cemaphonic]

12. Already happened

Chicken Tikka Masala is a British (Scottish, most likely) variation on Punjabi and Mughal cooking, and is just as popular in India as it is in the West.