Battle to 'save great British curry'

[Maggy J]

Well frankly what comes out of most Indian take aways these days is totally awful..I'd rather make my own and really cook the flavour into the meat/protein rather than eat something that is basically a warmed up curry sauce with precooked chicken/meat thrown into it.Half the time the lamb/beef curry's are inedible because the lamb/beef hasn't been cooked long enough to become tender.

Curry IS NOT a FAST food.Only Tandoori can claim to be fast food.

As for the added sugar for western tastes I've always had to ask them NOT to add sugar..can't bear it.Yuk

[Nugget]

Out of curiosity, how does a beef curry work?

I've always wondered this because, if you take curry as being traditionally Indian, the cow is a sacred animal in India, so it wouldn't be used for food?

[Rob]

You might get beef curry from English catering type places, your local supermarket or wherever, but I've never seen one on offer in an Indian Takeway / Restaurant.

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by Rob

You might get beef curry from English catering type places, your local supermarket or wherever, but I've never seen one on offer in an Indian Takeway / Restaurant.

In fairness, neither have I, but it just seems to fly in the face of conventional wisdom.

Mind you, so does someone eating a Phal after 15 pints, but there you go...

[danielf]

I thought most chefs in curry houses are from Bangladesh (which is a muslim country where cows are not considered holy) anyway?

Edit: Also, according to wikipedia the term 'curry' is a bit of a catch-all that includes the cuisine of Malaysia/Indonesia and Thailand.

There's a Thai dish called Mussaman (Muslim) curry that has beef, and one of the signature dishes of Malaysia/Indonesia is Beef Rendang which arguably is a curry as well. (Rendang, beef cooked in coconut milk is a firm favourite in our house where it's eaten just about every other week. )

[Xaccers]

Originally Posted by danielf

I thought most chefs in curry houses are from Bangladesh (which is a muslim country where cows are not considered holy) anyway?

Exactly


I am amused by how people are confused/suprised how so many takeaways can remain in business in one area.

As I said before it's down to the demand.
You also have to consider the variety.
One may do a great chicken chow mein, another may do a fabulous prawn korma, a third may be the place to get a yummy lamb bhalti.
So they all share pretty much the same customer base, just one night some customers visit the Tandori Palace, while others visit the Oriental Express, and they don't have the same thing every time they have a take away, consiquently they don't go to the same shop.
It's not rocket science.

[Taf]

A neighbour's mother has just had to pay a small fortune in legal fees and fines because she had brought illegals into this country from Pakistan and set them to work in her 3 restaurants. She is also being done for having 2 of her houses full of the same illegals (and more).

All said they could not speak English at all... and she said they didn't need to as they were "only here to cook". The very long hours they put in for illegal wages, minus "bed and board" of course, meant that they were either in the kitchen or in bed!

Many "English" second, third and fourth generation immigrants from the Indian sub-continent would love to work in these restaurants and takeaways I'm sure, but they could not survive on the rates of pay (below minimum wage) that the bosses insist on paying. My mate's mother used to fire staff regularly if they got "lazy", but they would just drift off to yet another curry house undercutting the present staff for both wages and working hours.

How many other restaurants in the UK could get away with only employing on such a very racist basis?

[Maggy J]

Originally Posted by Nugget

Out of curiosity, how does a beef curry work?

I've always wondered this because, if you take curry as being traditionally Indian, the cow is a sacred animal in India, so it wouldn't be used for food?

Cows are only sacred to Hindus,everyone else in India will quite willingly eat beef curry provided they can get their hands on beef.Quite a number of Indians are also Buddhist and therefore are vegetarian.However they don't hurry curry either.They take their time to cook it properly.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Incognitas

Cows are only sacred to Hindus,everyone else in India will quite willingly eat beef curry provided they can get their hands on beef.Quite a number of Indians are also Buddhist and therefore are vegetarian.However they don't hurry curry either.They take their time to cook it properly.

Not all Buddhists are vegetarian (but some are). Hop into your nearest Thai restaurant. There's lots of meat/fish dishes on the menu. Also, the most 'interesting' menu I've seen was in a restaurant in Vietnam, a predominantly Buddhist country. They had a rather liberal approach to what animals are considered edible.

[Maggy J]

Originally Posted by danielf

Not all Buddhists are vegetarian (but some are). Hop into your nearest Thai restaurant. There's lots of meat/fish dishes on the menu. Also, the most 'interesting' menu I've seen was in a restaurant in Vietnam, a predominantly Buddhist country. They had a rather liberal approach to what animals are considered edible.

I hate Thai food. Chinese and Indian meet and marry..a marriage made in hell with the worst bits of both.Yuk!