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.

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.