Britain has become a nation of curryholics - there are more than 8000 curry restaurants in Britain, visited by two million people each week. Each year £2bn is spent in Indian restaurants - about £70 per second - while Marks and Spencers sells 18 tonnes of chicken tikka masala weekly. Chicken Tikka Masala and Rogan Josh are today as much a part of British life as fish and chips and football. But how did Britain come to take curry so much to its heart? How did its flavours first reach its shores, and who are the millionaire curry kings?

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? This book traces the story of curry in Britain.

From the eighteenth century, travellers brought back with them a liking for India's national dish. Poet Edward Lear enjoyed a breakfast in India of prawn curry, cold mutton, plantain and bread and butter; Queen Victoria succumbed to the tastes of her far-flung Empire; and retiring ex-colonials and Bangladeshi immigrants alike came to Britain with new recipes and ways of adapting traditional foods for British tastes. The cuisine created wrought a curry revolution.

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, after returning from India; she also recorded how to make chutney, pilau and ginger candy. British ships went to India to find spices, and when the British returned from colonial India in the 18th century, they brought with them new tastes. Today, curry is one of the most widely available meals in Britain, produced at pubs nationwide, in supermarkets and in a plethora of restaurants to suit all purses and palates. It has created jobs, millionaires and curry empires.

ABOUT SHRABANI BASU

Shrabani Basu lives in London where she is the correspondent for Calcutta-based 'Ananda Bazaar Patrika' and 'The Telegraph' newspapers. She is a regular commentator on radio and television on Indian food.

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