Curry

In England the curry takeaway is now more popular than our traditional fish and chips. The curry that we know is only loosely related to the curries that families make in India, Bangla Desh and Pakistan. They say that the "balti" was born in Birmigham along with one of our favourite curries - Chicken Tikka Massala.

Well I have just finished scoffing a rather nice curry from Hamid's Balti House. We had lamb methi, vegetable korma, chicken bhuna, egg pilau rice, chapatis, bombay aloo and a couple of nans - all for fifteen pounds ($29) - plenty for a family of four. It's a nice way to end the working week - couple of beers in the pub then pick up the takeaway.

My favourite curry house in Sheffield is the rather basic Kashmir Curry Centre on Spital Hill with its wonderful nan breads - cooked as you watch - so light they would fly away. Here the curries are very authentic - no jarred sauces or shortcuts. The place has no licence so you have to dodge the traffic to visit the East House pub across the way. Then you return with pints or pitchers of beer and you have to ask yourself the question - if a car came speeding up would I drop the beer and run or hold on to my beer? I think I'd take the latter option.

I love the language of the curry house - bhindi bhaji, ghobi aloo, keema pilau, jalfrezi, dhansak, biryani, dupiaza, sag, rogon josh, bemishall, rezala, passanda - it's all so exotic. So many Asian British people are well-established here now and starting to really blend into the fabric of British life. On behalf of curry lovers throughout the land, I would like to thank our Asian brothers and sisters who have brought their wonderful cuisine to these islands and made it part of what it means to be British. But I still wouldn't have curry in a Yorkshire pudding!