Celebration of National Curry Week 🍛
- Concerto Catering
- Oct 6
- 4 min read
Curries and the British Food Culture by Exec Chef & Concerto Founder, Fiona Harrhy.
Curries are deeply integrated into British Culture due to their colonial history with India, leading to the adaptation of dishes to suit British tastes. The influx of South Asian immigrants in the mid 20th century solidified curry’s place in the UK, leading to its recognition as a nation dish, exemplified by the British originating Chicken Tikka Masala. Exposure to Indian Flavours came when British Officials, Soldiers and traders in India developed a taste for Indian Spices and dishes during the colonial era. In fact, after a Tour of India, Queen Victoria was the first of the British Monarchs to have her own Indian Chef, as she took a particular liking to spices in her food and in fact brought him to London with her. Upon returning to Britain, those who had served in the Colonial regions, longed for these flavours, leading to the initial introduction of curry into British cookbooks in the late 18th early 19th centuries. These early curries were often more akin to flavoured stews, adapted using local ingredients and a taste for sweeter, creamier and thicker dishes. Initially, some spices were used to curry flavour to off meat! More recently, the late Queen Elizabeth’s favourite was a dish she had created for her coronation, Coronation Chicken!
With a significant wave of immigration into Britain from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh after World War II, this led to the boom in Indian restaurants and takeaways across the country, popularising curry among the general British public.
Speaking from my roots, my Grandma on my mother’s side was always a lover of the Curry, when she was brought back spices from India by my Grandad who served in India temporarily. She began to seek out spices from the few suppliers importing them and experimented with several curry powders before settling on an original curry powder by Sharwoods. I remember the little pale blue pot sitting in her store cupboard always and the flavours of her curries, whether they were vegetarian or meat they were always so good. My mother also loved a curry but because my father’s palate wasn’t quite so experimental she was always quite mild on the serving unless of course he wasn’t eating... She would always put her curry portion back in the pan and add more curry powder.
Nowadays we seek a more complex curry with more authentic origins. It is no longer the leftover veggies which would be curried to use up what was left for another meal, now we will cook specific veggies with specific spices. With our Celebrity Chef’s seeking new challenges and often globe trotting to find them, we have ever growing desires to explore a new regional use of spices and with the advent of social media platforms this has become so much easier, with access to more recipes and different herbs and culinary spices.
It is the most exciting area of cookery in my view. I just love sampling a new spice or trying out a new blend of spices or masala mixes to see how it can elevate a dish.
My favourite Indian Inspired dish of the moment is my Pea & Paneer Curry, full of flavour and yet not masking the taste of the fresh peas or creamy paneer, combined with onions, butter, spinach and coconut milk is a real family favourite from my own cookbook and we wanted to celebrate National Curry Week by sharing this recipe (below) with our wonderful Concerto community for you to enjoy. Please do share your photos of the dish with us on social media, we would love to see you make it!
Fiona's Pea & Paneer Curry - Serves 4 - Vegetarian & Gluten Free Friendly
Ingredients Needed:
1 Pack of Frozen Petit Pois Peas
1 Pack of 250gm fresh Paneer cut into cubes
2 small red or white onions – diced
1 can of good quality Coconut Milk
1 bag of fresh spinach or 150gms of chopped frozen spinach
1 Tbsp of your choice of Curry Powder/Garam Masala or choice of curry spices. I use a combination of a new Butter Paneer Masala and a Mild Korma Curry powder.
1 Tsp of Fenugreek Powder
1 Chicken or Vegetable Stock Cube melted in 1 ltr of hot water
2 tspns of Mint Sauce
1 Tbspn of Cornflour mixed into a small amount of water (for a paste)
2 Tbspn of Oil – I use rapeseed or vegetable
75gms of Salted Butter
2 Garlic Cloves – Minced or Grated
2 tspns of freshly grated Ginger
Salt to taste if needed.
Method:
Bring 1 Tbsp Oil to hot in a frying pan, add the curry powders of your choice, reserving a little of the masala to add in at the end of your cooking process. Add 25gms of the salted butter and swirl around the pan, allowing the spices to open up and release all their potential.
Add the Onions to the pan and sweat them down with the spices until they go translucent. Keep moving them around the pan to avoid burning them. This will make it bitter which you don’t want.
Add the Garlic and Ginger to the Onions and fry for a short while more.
Remove the Onions and Spices from the pan and put a little more oil into the pan – allow to reheat before adding the cubed paneer cheese. Fry until the cheese is browned.
Add the Spiced Onions back into the pan with the cheese and to coat all the ingredients.
Add the Chicken or Veggie Stock to the pan along with the can of the coconut milk. Stir well and allow the mixture to simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Do not allow to burn. Keep it moving gently.
After 15 minutes, add the peas to the pan and allow to cook for a further 10 minutes.
Add the remaining Curry Masala and fenugreek powder and stir in.
Add the cornflour slurry and stir well to mix, this will thicken and then add the butter to make the sauce glossy.
This is now ready to serve.
Serve with Freshly cooked Rice or Naans.
It doesn’t have to be fancy, it has all the protein you need with the paneer, the peas add the fibre and the vitamins and together it's creamy, nutritious and delicious!
The combinations of spices that we have available to us now are both endless and exciting.
I hope you have fun cooking my curry, as I’m a real fan of the Nation’s favourite dish!
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