English beer never used to travel well, especially on the long journey to India in the 17th century. The men of the East India Company were getting restless. And very drunk on arrack, the local moonshine. Then along came George Hodgson, who started exporting specially created Indian Pale Ale (IPA) from his Bow Brewery. The traders liked him because he gave them 18 months credit and unlike the dark Porter beer that was popular in England at the time, his IPA didn’t suffer from journey round the tip of Africa; in fact the rolling motion of the ships actually improved it. The men were no longer restless and could get on with making money and eating curry now they had a decent beer to wash it down.
Such is the entertaining tale of beer expert and author Peter Haydon, who is one of the presenters at the National Maritime Museum’s Curry and a Pint evenings (next one is 25 Nov, then 2 Dec at £25, Bookings).
Haydon is a consultant to the Meantime Brewery and visitors get to taste the local brewery’s IPA as they enjoy a biryani in the Mogul restaurant in Greenwich town centre at the end of the event.
The super knowledgable historian Rozina Visram starts the evenings by giving a run down on the nation’s favourite dish in the museum. You might be able to get curry powder down the Co-op these days but way back when, Visram explains, this was the preserve of chemists, who promoted its mixtures as cures for all sorts of ailments, each one claiming its own blend was the best. Which, of course, makes perfect sense to anyone who’s chewed on a clove to help a toothache or gargled turmeric to help with a cough.
The evenings are part of a series of events to celebrate the opening of the new Traders gallery at the museum.
A superb special menu was set up by the Gurkha’s Inn as the Greenwich Curry Club and friends gathered to be part of Britain’s Biggest Curry Party to raise money for the James Whale Kidney Cancer Fund.
Ideal for grazers who like to try a bit of everything, the menu included a lot of Nepalese specialities. The Lamb Momos, tasty balls of mince wrapped in dough, are a favourite of diners at the Gurkha’s, but with succulent Grilled Salmon and Chicken Tikka, there was a feast in the starters alone.
Welcome surprises on the menu were the Achari Paneer Tikka and the Dal Makhani, both dishes that are often overlooked but incredibly tasty. The Dal Makhani has already been ordered in subsequent curry visits and looks set to be a new favourite. The Lemon Rice, with tiny zesty pieces of the fruit, is delicious, and the tang works particularly well with the spicier dishes such as Chicken Chilly Dry Fry.
Gurkha’s King Prawn, with prawns that were worthy of the name, Hariyo Lamb, Kukhura Bhutuwa, and supper soft spinach in the Saag Harabara completed the line-up along with garlic naan and rice.
Mongoose kindly supplied the beer for the evening, although there was still time to sample the Nepalese Khukuri beer, naturally.
The total cost for the food and beer was £20 a head, which included a contribution to the charity. This was topped up by a generous donation from the Gurkha’s Inn itself and some of the regulars at the nearby Plume of Feathers pub.
Fancy yourself as a curry king? Got questions? Garlic first or whole spices? Tinned tomatoes or fresh chopped tomatoes? Ren’s Kitchen, in Edgware, Middlesex, could be what you are looking for. With lessons from chefs who could cook up a spice storm in their sleep you can get one-on-one or group sessions to learn exactly how to get your curry dishes just right.
In the full day session you’ll get some practical info on spices (you know what they taste like raw?), plus a chance to cook a meat dish, a fish dish, a veg dish, rice, a starter, a dessert, rice and bread (Ren’s the Chappati Queen according to Sheila, my super knowledgable chef who is originally from Mumbai). Best of all you’ll be told along the way in each dish you are cooking, just how you can adapt it to create other dishes. So you might be learning Chicken Methi but you’ll also learn how to make a Madras, a Vindaloo or a Chicken Rogan at the same time.
Needless to say, you get to take all your food home as well, so it’s curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a few days. Ok, if you insist…
See how you can do without Google. Answers at top of page where it says Curry quiz!
1. The Hindoostane Coffee House is widely acknowledged as Britain’s first curry house. In what year was it opened? (3pts for exact, 1 pt for within 5 years).
2. The Veeraswamy is Britain’ oldest curry house that is still open. In which famous Monopoly Street is it? (1pt)
3. Sag aloo includes which two main ingredients? (1pt if you get both)
4. Traditionally cooked with pork, what is Goa’s most famous dish? (1pt)
5. There are more than 13,000 curry houses in Britain? True or false? (1pt)
6. A Mongoose is particularly famous for fighting which snake? (1pt)
7. According to the British Curry Club what is the nation’s favorite curry? (1pt)
8. It was National Curry Week last week and they held a Poppadom Tower competition. How many poppadoms were piled high to create the record. (3pts for within 10, 1 pt for within 50).
9. The hottest curry in Britain is said to be the Rupali. In which city will you find it? (2pts)
10. Indian restaurants in Britain serve more than 2 million people every week. True or false? (1pt)
Daniel Ford, one of the founder members of the Greenwich Curry Club has been named Curry Bard 2011 by the National Curry Week following a national poetry competition. His poem about curry included some of the places he’s eaten the food…
It’s early, it’s early
Very early and it’s breakfast time
The Delhi train rattles us on its way
A hawker’s fruit slice. A metal thali tray
The curry day is ready
It’s midday, it’s midday
Exactly midday and it’s lunchtime
The sun hits us sharp on the Durban sand
A bunny chow’s the order in this land
The curry day is underway
It’s afternoon, it’s afternoon
Dark wraps us up and it’s dinner time
Smart jackets here in Bermuda don’t you know
Masala’s the choice but the red is for show
The curry day is full on
It’s late, it’s late
Stars are our guides and it’s supper time
London’s partying’s all done
Closing time choices. Madras won
The curry day has ended
Pleased to reveal a new feature on the GCC blog…
If you scroll down you will see on the right hand side http://www.curryclubs, which is the start of what will hopefully become a fairly comprehensive list of links to UK Curry Clubs. Some are business or networking clubs, while others are informal groups who get together regularly just for fun. The common thread is a love of curry (and alcohol by the look of things).
Those listed are the ones who appear to be active, but please contact me if you know any of these to be defunct or if you have links to other curry clubs. There are also likely to be many more who don’t bother with a blog or website.
Check out the Greenwich Visitor (39,000 copies distributed this month) for a new monthly column on our nation’s favourite food. This month read about nominations for the Greenwich Curry Club Awards in association with the Greenwich Visitor, news on the National Curry Week, Britain’s Biggest Curry Party, a visit to The Coriander in SE3, fishy tips and info on curry nights in Richard I and The Mitre.
Read the Greenwich Visitor online
Great new book coming out in November called Food of the Grand Trunk Road (New Holland, £19.99) which includes recipes from along the route which stretches from Calcutta to Lucknow to Delhi then into the Punjab. Written by Hardeep Singh Kohli, recipes are from Anirudh Arora, head chef at Covent Garden’s Moti Mahal.
Voting for the Greenwich Curry Club Awards 2011, in association with the Greenwich Visitor, is now closed. Many thanks to everyone who voted. The results will be announced in the next issue of the Greenwich Visitor and on this blog at the end of the month.
The Royal Curry Club 