Culture & History
Articles about culture & history in the UK curry industry
Aloo Posto: The Poppy Seed Paste Dish at the Heart of Bengali Home Cooking
Aloo posto is the quietly beloved Bengali dish of potatoes simmered in a ground poppy-seed paste, gentle, cooling and deeply comforting. Here is its place in Bengali kitchens, why posto suits the summer, and how it is made.
Sylheti Akhni: The One-Pot Aromatic Rice That Travelled to Britain's Curry Houses
Akhni is the everyday one-pot aromatic rice of Sylhet, the region that gave Britain most of its curry houses. Here is what makes its spice profile distinct from biryani and how it crossed the world into UK home kitchens.
Dhaka's Old Town Street Food: Bakorkhani, Haleem and the Chowk Bazaar Iftar
A walking tour of Old Dhaka's street-food legends, from flaky bakorkhani biscuits and slow-cooked haleem to the roaring Ramadan iftar market at Chowk Bazaar.
Morog Polao: Dhaka's Festive Chicken Pulao for Weddings and Guests
Morog polao is the fragrant, gently sweet Bangladeshi chicken pulao served at weddings and to honoured guests. Here is what makes its ghee-and-milk richness special and how it differs from biryani.
Roshogolla to Chomchom: A Tour of Bengal's Chhena Sweet Universe
Bengal's sweets go far beyond rasgulla. This is a guided tour of the chhena, or curdled-milk, universe, from spongy roshogolla and syrup-soaked chomchom to delicate sandesh and the sweet-shop culture of Kolkata.
Biye Bari: The Multi-Course Bengali Wedding Feast and Its Unwritten Menu Order
A Bengali wedding banquet is not a buffet but a procession of courses with a strict, unwritten order. Here is how that progression works, from the bitter shukto that opens the meal to the mishti doi that closes it.
Nabanna: The Bengali Harvest Festival and Its New-Rice Pithas and Payesh
Nabanna marks the first harvest of the winter aman rice, a quiet agrarian festival celebrated with pithas and payesh made from freshly milled grain. Here is the food and feeling of the Bengali harvest, and how diaspora families keep it alive.
Durga Puja Bhog: The Vegetarian Khichuri and Labra of the Pandal Kitchen
During Durga Puja, the community kitchen serves bhog: a blessed vegetarian meal of khichuri, labra and beguni cooked without onion or garlic. Here is what goes into it and how British pujas recreate the pandal feast.
Pohela Boishakh in Britain: How the Bengali New Year Plate Crossed Borders
Pohela Boishakh, the Bengali New Year, brings panta bhat, hilsa and Boishakhi mela food stalls to the streets of Britain. Here is how UK Bengali communities celebrate it and what fills the symbolic new-year plate.
Punjabi Sarson da Saag and Makki di Roti: Winter on a Plate in the Land of Five Rivers
Sarson da saag and makki di roti are the definitive winter meal of Punjab: slow-cooked mustard greens with spinach and bathua, partnered by golden cornmeal flatbread and finished with white butter. Here is how it is made and why it matters.
Goan Vindaloo, Properly: Vinegar, Garlic and the Portuguese Carne de Vinha d'Alhos
The real Goan vindaloo is a vinegar-and-garlic pork curry descended from a Portuguese dish, not a contest to see who can stand the most chilli. Here is how to reclaim it from the British curry-house heat menu.
Goan Sorpotel and Sannas: The Pork Stew and Steamed Rice Cakes of a Catholic Christmas
Sorpotel is the vinegary, offal-rich pork stew that anchors a Goan Catholic Christmas, traditionally made days ahead so the flavour deepens. Paired with the soft, toddy-leavened rice cakes called sannas, it is festive cooking at its most soulful.