Curry

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Britain has become a nation of curryholics-there are more than 8000 curry restaurants visited by two million people each week. Each year, GBP 2 billion is spent in Indian restaurants, while Marks and Spencer's sells 18 tonnes of Chicken Tikka Masala weekly. How did Britain come to take curry so much to its heart? Where did the word 'curry' originate? When did the first curry restaurants come to Britain? And when were the first recipes produced for those who wanted to concoct the flavoursome dishes in their home? The first recipe for curry powder recorded by the English was from Mrs Turnbull, who wrote down her recipes in manuscript in the mid-18th century at her home in Hyde Park following her return from India. Today, curry is one of the most widely consumed meals in Britain, available in pubs nationwide, in supermarkets and in a plethora of restaurants to suit all purses and palates. Here, bestselling author Shrabani Basu traces the story of curry in Britain from the day of the Raj through the emergence of the first curry houses in Britain in the nineteenth century, to its eventual transformation as Britain's national dish.

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Shrabani Basu is an author and a journalist. She was born in Kolkata and grew up in Dhaka, Kathmandu and Delhi. Her books include Victoria & Abdul: The Extraordinary True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant, now a major motion picture, Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan and For King and Another Country: Indian Soldiers on the Western Front, 1914-18. In 2010, she set up the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust and campaigned for a memorial for the Second World War heroine, which was unveiled by Princess Anne in London in November 2012.