We Brits Love Our Curry! Celebrating National Curry Week with Sainsbury's

In celebration of National Curry Week (10th – 16th October), Sainsbury’s have commissioned a survey to reveal how the nation’s love of Indian cuisine has evolved since its introduction to the UK.

Curry first came to Britain in the 18th century, and over the years our nation has fully embraced Indian cuisine establishing it as a firm national favourite. Up until the 1980s, many of the options on offer were just anglicised versions of a select few Indian dishes, but a demand for more authentic, flavoursome, diverse and exotic cuisine has developed over the decades. Sainsbury's has been meeting this demand, reviewing and testing recipes and ideas to create authentic products with passion.

When it comes to grocery shopping, our choice of spices has evolved too. Alongside store cupboard favourites such as chilli, ginger, paprika and cumin, we are now opting for more exotic ingredients when it comes to cooking curry. Sainsbury’s has reported that sales of garam masala are up by nearly a quarter (24%) whilst cumin and coriander seed are dramatically increasing in popularity. Sales of turmeric are up 9%. 37% of Brits are also willing to spend up to three hours in the kitchen perfecting the mix of spices for the best possible flavour for a home cooked curry.

THE NATION’S CURRY HABITS

•             The nation selected Tikka Masala and Korma as their favourite dishes

•             The Welsh opted for hot Madras as their favourite dish

•             The UK chose naan breads over rice as their favourite side dish

•             The majority of the UK like hot curry but Londoners prefer milder recipes

•             Brits will spend a huge £30,331 on curry in their lifetime

•             43% of Brits would opt for a ready meal over a takeaway for convenience and value 

•             Nearly half of us say we would eat curry any night of the week - it's not just a weekend meal

Sainsbury’s first introduced classic Indian ingredients, such as curry powder and mango chutney, in 1920, representing a revolutionary addition to supermarket shopping for the time. Their first Indian ready meals were introduced to customers in 1989. Over 20 years on, Sainsbury’s stocks a range of 50 prepared Indian dishes and accompaniments, selling more than £61m of Indian food per annum. 

The Sainsbury's range of Indian ready meals is continually evolved to suit the changing preferences of their customers. They have recently enhanced their range of vegetarian side dishes including By Sainsbury's Sweet Potato and Red Onion Bhajis, By Sainsbury's Tadka Daal and Taste the Difference Crispy Beetroot and Chilli Samosas.

To find out more about Sainsbury’s variety of spices and new Indian inspired ready meals or to see the full list of ready meals, visit www.sainsburys.com.

Love Indian Food? You'll Love Oruna Cuisine!

Oruna Cuisine Indian Restaurant 

There are not many things that I am passionate about in the area in which I live, however we have an Indian Restaurant called Oruna Cuisine which is a culinary gem in the crown of North Shropshire eateries.  We regularly treat ourselves to take-aways but until yesterday had not dined in.  As it was Ella's 16th birthday, we decided it was time to experience the restaurant in all its glory and not just order the food that comes in foil containers!

Oruna Cuisine boasts an  extraordinary blend of tradition and modernity creating  authentic Indian dishes that are quite simply some of the best I have ever enjoyed in my years as a lover of curry!  The extensive menu has so many vegetarian choices that for once I am spoiled for choice even with my self-imposed dietary restrictions.

The restaurant has an excellent 'Happy Hour' on a Thursday and Sunday night that lets you choose any drink, starter, main, rice or nan bread followed by a coffee and all preceded by popadoms and a chutney tray for just £11.95.

Oruna Cuisine

The table was decorated with helium balloons and birthday banners and Ella was made to feel really special by the staff who are genuinely attentive and very friendly.  The food was plentiful, beautifully presented and as ever, absolutely delicious!  I chose Chot Pothi to start, which was a spicy chickpea curry inside a chappati style bread, and Paneer Tikka Masala and Mushroom Pilau rice for my main.

Indian starter

There was loads of food so we could try everyone elses' dishes too.  Always a bonus!!

Indian Mains

After the meal, Ella was thrilled when the waiters presented her with a chocolate gateau birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday.  It was just too cute and a wonderful gesture, making Ella feel really special!

Birthday Cake

My love for Oruna Cuisine has indeed got even greater after our experience of dining in.  They waiters were even on hand to provide a lolly for Freddy to keep him entertained and happy when he had finished eating his dinner, allowing us to relax and enjoy our coffees in peace!  It was a wonderful evening.

Oruna's Friendly Staff

If you ever find yourself anywhere near North Shropshire and you want to enjoy an Indian feast in lovely surroundings with friendly staff, then you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere better than Oruna Cuisine.

How To Cook a Curry!

On Saturday I was lucky enough to join a group of fellow bloggers for a fantastic experience courtesy of Living Social.  We met at Dilli's Indian Restaurant in Altrincham  for a fantastic demonstration and lesson in Indian cuisine.

Dilli's is a restaurant that serves authentic regional dishes from the heart of India, and has become the benchmark for fine Indian dining.  They run independent cookery classes where you can discover some of the secrets of India's fascinating and unique way of combining flavours and ingredients.  Chefs Ravi and Naeem run the classes consisting of a half hour demonstration followed by a hands-on three dish class with instruction.

We each had our own work station and apron...I felt like I was on Masterchef!

Chef Naeem first demonstrated how to make onion bhajis and mango lassi.  His knife skills were very impressive!  His knowledge, passion and enthusiasm for Indian cuisine kept us all completely enthralled.

We were given lots of tips during the demonstration.  Slicing onions, salting them and leaving them to rest draws out the moisture.  This process can be used to make crispy fried onions if you dry them off or provides enough liquid to bind the bhaji mix when you add gram flour.

The bhajis were exquisite, served with an amazing mint and coriander sauce which was just so fresh and zingy, or a rich tamarind sauce. 

We learned about the different regions of India and how various ingredients were associated with them.  We were told how misused the word 'curry' was in England.  Curry merely means gravy in India.  Also, Masala is simply a word to describe something that consists of three or more ingredients!  It was really informative.

After enjoying the bhajis, we were let loose to cook three dishes for ourselves, under the close guidance and tuition of the chefs. Vegetarians were very well catered for with separate and alternate ingredients.

My work station

We used fresh ingredients and a whole array of wonderful spices.  The smell in the room was amazing! We made an absolutely delicious Paneer Kali Mirch.

A Dal Tarka.

And an Aloo Palak.

The recipes were wonderful, producing three fantastic restaurant quality dishes that I took home for our dinner.   We were also treated to lunch in the restaurant, which was delicious and came with the best nan bread I've ever had.  Dilli's is an amazing restaurant with authentic food that tasted divine.  If you are ever near Altrincham, I'd highly recommend it.

My DIY take-away!!

The Cookery Course was just one of the experiential deals that can be purchased from Living Social.  Everyday, Living Social has a selection of deals for great experiences at local restaurants, spas, theatres and more.  They also have great offers on Family deals, Escapes and Adventures.  Simply buy the deal and look forward to doing something new in your local area or beyond.

Living Social even has an Android or iOS App enabling you to check out what is going on wherever you are, purchase and redeem deals all in one place.  You can get the inside scoop on handpicked, unique and great value deals, and explore the best of any city like a local no matter where you are.

I am now signed up to their daily emails.  The Indian Cookery Course was a great example of the kind of deals they offer at great value prices.  Check out livingsocial.com to find out more.

The Curry Recipe Kit from Wish.co.uk

This week is National Curry Week making it the perfect time to receive my first Curry Recipe Kit box from The Spicery.  I've previously reviewed Wish.co.uk...the experience and gift ideas site and activated my voucher to begin my three month subscription to the curry recipe kit from thespicery.com.

The kit arrived and contained lots of exciting plastic packs of different herbs and spices, along with a shopping list of what I'd need to make the meal.  There was also a recipe card with clear instructions for cooking the curry.

The curry meal on the menu was Tamil Black-Eyed Bean Curry with Spinach Raita, Mushroom Bhaji and Spicy Beetroot Salad.  The ingredients needed were very straightforward...all the complicated spices, seeds and herbs are provided and measured out for you to use.

The recipes were very clear and the labelled bags made it easy to prepare the dishes.  The main curry was a hearty tomato based bean curry with a savoury, herbal flavour. It contained cinnamon and ajowan in addition to the more traditional spices such as tumeric, cumin and coriander.

The Spicy Beetroot Salad was sweet with the nutty crunch of Nigella seeds and the heat of chilli flakes.  It was unusual but really surprisingly delicious.

A cooling Spinach Raita made a really nice alternative to using cucumber.

The earthy Mushroom Bhaji was cooked with a whole chilli and panch pooran.  The curry meal was served with a Mushroom Basmati  Rice.

The colourful, aromatic meal had an autumnal feel to it.  There was plenty to serve four and was truly delicious.  I loved how it was hand made from scratch using fresh ingredients but was assisted by having the pre-packaged spices.  We enjoyed cooking the curry which was ready to eat within the hour.  The flavours were really interesting, complimenting each other perfectly.  It wasn't too hot, but had distinctive spicy notes.  It was a real success!

I look forward to next month's kit.  It is a real incentive to do some real Indian cooking...definitely beats grabbing a jar of sauce when you want something special.

The spice ingredients are listed so you can re-create the ingredients if you wish.  The recipe cards are strong and wipe clean and can be secured together the make a booklet to keep them safe.

The Three Month Subscription to the Curry Recipe Kits would really be an excellent gift for anyone interested in cooking or Indian food.  You don't need much skill to prepare the meals, but the satisfaction in creating such a lovely meal yourself is great!  It is a really unique gift idea for the hard to buy for person in your life, and for just £20 it is good value.

For this and other excellent gift ideas visit wish.co.uk.

Ella's Kitchen Review...part 2

I have previously reviewed some of the delicious offerings from Ella's Kitchen in an earlier post here!  My mini testers Kizzy and Freddy munched and crunched their way through pack-o-snacks, bakey-bakies and stacks-of-sticks.  All received a very positive thumbs up from them and from me too, knowing they were getting nutritious 'in-between-meals' goodies.

I've been waiting for the moment to test the cooking sauces, and last night provided the perfect opportunity.  Freddy generally eats what we eat, but there are times when our dinner choice wouldn't be appropriate.  Yesterdays chilli was such an ocassion.  Having a nutritious, organic pouch of curry sauce "The Indian One"  in my store cupboad was a godsend!  The blend of tomatoes, carrots, onions and sweet potatoes, gently flavoured with coconut, cumin, coriander and cinnamon, tasted like real food and had a nice thick consistency.  The contents are easily squeezed from the covenient pouch.

The sauce can be used anyway you like but I chose to heat it up in a small pan with some cooked green lentils and cooked rice to make a yummy Indian dahl style dinner for my little boy.

Another thumbs up from my tiny tester!  He enjoyed his curry very much!  I love how Ella's Kitchen makes products in bold and interesting flavours.  Little taste buds are given the opportunity to explore a whole variety of tastes, which will make them more adventurous eaters.  I love the fact that nutritious, organic food is available in a ready to use pouch.  You don't have to compromise goodness for convenience.  I look forward to giving Freddy "the Italian One" next which is a tomato based cooking sauce flavoured with garlic and basil, which would be perfect served with pasta and vegetables.

I leave you with a video of my little Freddy tucking into his Ella's Kitchen curry :)