Introduction
The UK has had a long love for curry. Brick Lane is alive in London, and the vibrant aromas of numerous spices from the maze of curry houses have sprung up over the years. From the trendy fine dining of the West End to the easy-eating restaurants of establishments like Dishoom, London has taken the joy of going for a curry to heart. The numerous Indian beers like Cobra and Kingfisher accompany the meal, and copious amounts of plain and spicy poppadoms. Mouthwatering chicken and lamb dishes that can be mild or bring fire to your belly. So, I was interested to know where this long-established tradition originated from. My piece will concentrate on London, although our country has many restaurants to visit.
Vintage Indian
Contrary to public belief that the Bangladeshi community brought curry houses to the UK in the 1960s and 1970s, the oldest and first Indian restaurant was established in London in 1810. The Hindoostane Coffee House was owned by a Bengali Sake Dean Mahomed, a trainee surgeon and a British East India Company captain. Fluent in English and married to an Irish woman, the couple moved to London and lived in Portman Square, a wealthy area of London where employees of the East India Company resided.
The “Hindoostane Coffee House” was located at 34 George Street (now renumbered 102 George Street) — in the posh part of Marylebone, between Gloucester Place and Baker Street – just a few minutes’ walk from Marble Arch.
The actual site of what was once the restaurant is today marked by a Green Plaque unveiled on the building by the City of Westminster in 2005 – to commemorate Sake Dean Mahomed’s achievements.
Sake tapped into an undiscovered market, bringing the beauty of spices like turmeric, cayenne, ginger, cumin, fenugreek and caraway seeds to his cooking. Serving Indian food, popular hot drinks and Indianised British food, he also provided a home delivery service. However, this pioneer was ahead of his game because the business folded after a year of trading, and Sake went bankrupt.
The Love
It wasn’t until the late 1800s that Queen Victoria’s love of India resurfaced. Bangladeshi sailors brought their traditional cuisine, and by the 1940s, small family-run restaurants had started to pop up across the country. This trend became commercial by the 1960s and was popular in the 1970s. Much more wholesome than the Vesta curries that the British supermarkets offered. Yet there were also several great-old Indian curry houses that you have probably never heard of. Edward Palmer, a retired Indian army officer in 1926, opened the Veeraswamy on Regent Street. The Punjab in Covent Garden. The oldest North Indian restaurant. First, it was owned by Gurbachan Singh Maan, a well-known Indian wrestler of the time – a skill he called upon and used many times to ‘sort out’ any unruly customers. An establishment that originally sold home-cooked food to the docks.
The Halal in Aldgate was also opened in 1939 and is the oldest Indian in East London. The building was originally a Seaman’s Mission and is now a Grade II-listed building. The Sheba in Brick Lane, which opened in 1974, is the oldest Indian restaurant in Brick Lane. An establishment is highly rated by Timeout, The Evening Standard, The Metro, the Eastern Eye and the Cobra Good Curry Guide.
