A history of curry in Britain

Try to order a balti in Kashmir and you might get a funny look. 

That’s because this ‘classic curry’ was invented in 1970s Birmingham, when a restaurant owner wanted to make a curry-like dish that suited local palates and could be cooked quickly for his customers.  

Curry may be one of our nation’s favourite foods, but how did our modern-day cuisine evolve from centuries of trade, exploitation, colonialism and migration? In today’s episode, Christopher Warleigh-Lack, Mallika Basu and Samantha Bilton take Amy through the chequered history of curry.  

Christopher begins our journey at Osborne on the Isle of Wight, where we explore Queen Victoria’s passion for India and the influences we can discover in the collection. We also look at British inventions, from balti to tikka masala, coronation chicken and the incendiary sultana, and discuss their place in food culture and tradition today. 

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