10 November: National Curry Day

National Curry Day has been celebrated since 1977 in the UK. There's also a National Curry Week celebrated in October. 10 things you might not know about curry.

1. What is a curry? It's an umbrella term for any number of dishes (such as bhuna, vindaloo, balti, tikka masala etc) which originated in the Indian subcontinent. A curry may comprise meat, fish or vegetables cooked in a sauce which might contain Yoghurt, cream, coconut milk, vegetable puree, Onions and broth. It will contain a mixture of spices which may be traditional to a country, region or even a family. Coriander, Cumin, turmeric, ginger, and hot chilies are examples of the spices a curry might contain.
2. The word originates in the Tamil language – the word kari or karil, meaning 'sauce'.
3. Humans have been making curry type dishes since 2600 BC. There is archaeological evidence of people grinding up spices in a pestle and mortar.
4. People in the Indian subcontinent don't use the word curry. They refer to each dish by its specific name.
5. Curry became popular with the British during the days of the British Raj. The first places to sell curry in the UK were coffee houses, starting in 1809.
6. Curry powder had already been around a while by then. In 1780, Sorlie’s Perfumery Warehouse in London's Piccadilly, was selling commercial curry powder. Even before this, people were probably tucking in to a curry at home thanks to Hannah Glasse’s The Art Of Cookery published in 1747. Hers was the first curry recipe in English and she referred to it as “To make a currey the India way”.
7. The first curry house in England was opened by Shaykh Din Mahomet in 1810. Today, there are about 10,000 Indian restaurants in the UK, serving about 2.5 million customers a week. There are more curry houses in London than in Mumbai. Most Indian restaurants are are run by people from Bangladesh, rather than India.
8. Curry has become an integral part of British cuisine, with surges in popularity during the 1940s and the 1970s. So much so that chicken tikka masala has been referred to as "a true British national dish" alongside roast beef and fish and chips!
9. William Makepeace Thackaray wrote a poem about curry in 1846. It was called A Poem To Curry, as part of his Kitchen Melodies.
10. Curry lovers can join the Curry Club. The Curry Club was founded by Pat Chapman in 1982, initially as a hobby, but the club now has several thousand members. The club produces recipe books, good curry restaurant guides and a magazine; it also organises cookery courses, outings to Indian restaurants and tours of India.

More details about my books. Follow this link if you like Superheroes, Psychics and/or quirky short stories. 

I've listed the themes each novel touches on here for easy reference.

Like my author page on Facebook for news on new books and blog posts.

Follow me on Twitter and Pinterest