curry secret

[mr. piper]

this i hope will interest someone, there is a recipe book called the "curry secret" by Kriss Dillon. it tells you how to cook indian food the way that it is in indian restaurants in england. it is not like the curries that delia or maddur write, it is authentic restaurant food, the birianis are superb and look the part, has anyone else tried it?

[AB Editor]

The racial overtones of this thread have caused some concern among the moderators at TheAnswerbank.

 

We must remind you that racial intolerance is an ugly thing and will not be tolerated on this site.

 

Please be mindful of the language you use and the opinions you state. If you cannot back up claims with hard facts and/or figures, do not make them.

 

Thank you.

[Dom Tuk]

Brachiopod

 

I do not wish to be inflammatory in my emails. What i have proposed is a valid retort to the statement that curry houses are Indian when they are actually run/staffed by Bangladeshis. I have also proposed a reason for why the cuisine tastes unliek anything you have tasted in india and the reason being that the staff are mainly of Bangladeshi origin and untrained in the art of Indian cooking. No i am not a bigotted Daily Mail reader. Nor am I white British. I am of asian descent and providing you with a reason for why things are so. Perhaps you do not wish to be awakened from your Guardian fuelled slumber but that is your problem. Why is it that when faced with the facts you have to bring it down to the level of racism/bigotry. Please do grace your local curry house with your custom. They despreately need it. But just rid yourself of the misconception that they are Indian curry houses and that the staff are trained in cooking/hygeine/restaurant work. And next time the authorities have been to the shop please do enquire as to the whereabouts of the few staff that have been picked up or dont you care.

[Dom Tuk]

Brachipod

where is the statement 'all bangladeshi workers are illegal immigrants'?. Dont attribute statemenst that have not been made by me to me especially in a tirade against my posting. I am proposing a viewpoint that you obviously do not subscribe to but i do not insinuate that you are a bigot or cast aspersions on your reading habits. Do enjoy your curry house...i certainly do but i am under no illusions as to the reality of the situation. And maybe you could politely ask the waiter if he comes from India. It is not bigotted to make such a query in the restaurant even if you happen to be glancing through the pages of the Daily Mail

[brachiopod]

"i do not ..... cast aspersions on your reading habits"

-

and from your post preceding your last;

-

"Perhaps you do not wish to be awakened from your Guardian fuelled slumber "

????

[Dom Tuk]

Oops meant to say 'kingfisher fuelled slumber....' easy mistake to make :-).

Kingfisher now thats a good indian beer..............brewed in Swindon no doubt

[brachiopod]

 I am fully aware that many 'Indian restaurants' are in fact Bangladeshi restaurants. Whenever I have used the terms 'Indian Restaurant' or 'Curry House' in my previous posts, you will see that I have used inverted commas.

This is not only a reflection of the popular term to which these restaurants are referred, but is also in context as to the subject of this question, the book 'The Curry Secret' by Kris Dhillon, subtitled 'Indian Restaurant Cookery at Home'.



'Indian restaurant' should be taken to mean establishments providing an adapted, anglicised version of the cuisines from the Indian Sub-continent. Not the country India.
It appears that this is causing confusion, you appear to be taking 'Indian' to be referring to the country. This is not the intention.

As for your question "Why is it that when faced with the facts you have to bring it down to the level of racism/bigotry?", well, I don't remember being faced with any facts, nor was I the person who, in their very first contribution to this thread, wrote '

"Of course the classier Indian restaurants in London are genuine and have trained cooks with qualifications but that is a handful. The rest are all bangladeshi and the next one of (sic) a lorry can work and cook there"

(my underlining)

[Dom Tuk]

I will accept that if the term Indian restaurant refers to the Indian subcontinent then the issue should not arise whether it is Bangladeshi/Indian/pakistani/Nepali. However when the term Indian restaurant is used and comparisons are made with Indian cooking (as has been done in this thread)it is invariably with restaurants in India or cooking styles in Indian homes (quote from Madhur jaffrey in an earlier posting refers). Hence the confusion. I do not know how cooking in Bangla restaurants in the UK compares with the same in Bangladesh. I daresay it will be markedly different and again i propose the reasons are to do with availability/freshness of raw materials and lack/shortage of skill levels.

Furthermore my statement about immigrants from Lorries via the channel still stands. they are a cheap source of labour and unqualified (in a majority of cases) to do the job in a restaurant. Hoteliers in the Uk are prepared to use this cheap black market labour to make a quick buck and this is the main issue. Believe me that bloke in a borrowed suit waiting at your table is a hard working man who only wants to earn a decent living. I have no problems with what he is doing, faced with the deproivation and hardship that he has to face elsewhere i and you would do the same. But he is being exploited and that is the real issue.

[mr. piper]

Well dear dear me, this does happen to have turned into a bit of a scuffle. all i wanted to do was ask you guys out there if you knew of the book "The Curry Secret". yet i seem to have opened a can of worms, and stirred them into a birriani.

but nevertheless i have enjoyed seeing death star chappattis hurled through cyberspace at people who crossed the line of diplomacy and inferred something racial.

I was a little perturbed to see AB sticking there oar in, this site as long as i have been on it has generally policed its self and as far as i am aware no one has killed any other AB'er, so your comments a high handed  at least. we know how to be. your  editing tecniques are not a million miles away from what hitler tried to do

[brachiopod]

Ahh well, c'est la guerre.

Care to join Dom Tuk and myself in a cyber-bottle of Kingfisher or two?

[sib444]

I must say i have to agree with the Ed. This is getting to be a bit silly. Dom Tuk has asked for percentages, but i will be honest and say i have no hard facts but i do know we have more Pakistanis than Bangladeshis in Nottm and i know of only 2 which are not Pakistani.

I apologise if i have offended anyone.

[mr. piper]

did i mention that i know of an IRAQI cookbook, better not eh?

[Dom Tuk]

Mr. Piper Would love to know what constitutes iraqi cuisine and how it differs from the Iranian cuisine. I genuinely dont know.

Sib44 Having now established that Indian restaurant encompasses the entire subcontinent, my query was a bit academic but thanks for the info anyway. I dont think that there is much difference between Pakistani and indian mughlai cuisine just regional variations on a central theme. Liekwise the Bangla cooking should follow the theme from the eastern Bengal region of India.

Brachiopod

talking of Kingfisher, which i rate very highly, do they still make draught versions of it. Have not been out for a while...atleast not to an 'Indian'

[sib444]

We have certainly covered a lot of different sujects to say we started off talking about a curry book!  Happy to see everyone getting along now.

Kingfisher beer is very popular.............but as i dont drink i cannot comment on it.