Yes i understand how when the British colonized India and got those exotic spices and the Indians who immigrated to the UK, opened up lots of restaurants there. But still, in my 1st trip to the UK last year, I saw more Indian dishes than Chinese. Heck, even in a Chinese restaurant, we have the option to add some curry sauce on the side. And for the fish and chip shops, you can even have curry sauce to go with the chips and fish.

Is this a culinary thing, i.e. curries are easier to cook? My friend is Indian and although the curries look easy to make, gathering the correct ingredients is very tricky. Missing one and your dish doesnt turn out well. The UK already had these exotic spices so it is easier to make the dish?

Or is it a regional thing? It is freezing in England and so hot dishes like curries are perfect? Traditional stews are kinda bland so something liquid like curry is better?

  • FinjaminPoach@lemmy.world
    2·
    6 hours ago

    I think indian food is more popular than chinese because

    • there are more indian curry places
    • because we have closer ties to india
    • and much more people of indian descent than of chinese

    So it’s what people have more exposure to.

    Also while both indian and chinese restaurants & takeaways modify the cuisine in some regard, i think indian cuisine has made more concessions to local pallette than chinese. Some things i’ve heard:

    • indian curries in india don’t tend to use meat as much because loads of indians are vegan or vegetarian
    • chicken tikka masala (perhaps the most popular dish) was invented by an indian in scotland specifically to satisfy the tastes of some new customers.
    • further reading suggests there are more examples of this! AND that we’ve been eating curry here for 215 years