Topic: Hi from Winchester

[johnevans]

Hi, I have been eating curries for nearly 50 years now, since my mother (Cantonese) used to cook them for me using good old Venkat curry powder...delicious but didn't half stink the house out. This was back in the day in a small provincial English town where it was often quite difficult to buy long grain rice, let alone any other decent ingredient. She did later progress to buying tins of haldi, jeera etc from the local Indian shop which arrived with the Asian refugees from Uganda in late 60s.
My real love affair with curry however began in the mid 70s as a student in Birmingham when I used to explore the more authentic ends of the Ladypool Road and was there for the birth of the now ubiquitous "balti".
My tastes and budget went upmarket with my first job with an expense account that was well plundered at the Gaylord on New Street where I experienced some truly epic feasts. Throughout my time in Brum I remained loyal to Balsall Heath and to cafes such as Saleems and Adils in particular.
A period of exile in the US for two years made me realise how much I enjoyed (and missed) a good curry and one of my fond memories was to cook a chicken curry for my cousins in Mississippi, the first they had ever had, which they enjoyed greatly.
To be continued...

John

[solarsplace]

Hi John

That sounds a fascinating tale full of history!

Do you currently cook much in the way of curry such as the Balti's you describe? any recipes or tips you could share?

Cheers

[Malc.]

Welcome onboard John, looking forward to your input.

[commis]

Hi

Welcome, that has to be the most eloquent introduction I've seen in a long time. Please tell us more.

Regards

[johnevans]

the story goes on...
When I returned to the UK I moved to Yorkshire where I experienced the delights of the Kasmir and the Karachi Social Club in Bradford (dish of curry and all the chapattis you could eat for about ?2!)
I travelled all over the UK for work in those days and was able to experience the famous Rusholme mile of curry houses in Manchester (the Kobeda Kebab in the Rusholme chippy is still one of my favourite takeaway snacks, is that place still there?)

I eventually moved South with work where I was fortunate to live within a half hour drive of Southall so places like the Brilliant and Omis became regular haunts. I still love to eat in unassuming local places with more asian clientelle than English...why does food always seem to taste better if it costs less than ?20 a head?

Unfortunately I now live in a bit a a curry desert so I have to get my fix when I visit London or go to see my parents in Stourbridge (another "curry mile" in Lye)


I will talk in a new thread about the cooking I do these days.

John

[Stephen Lindsay]

Nice intro John, my friend lived in Huddersfield a while back for a few years and he liked the Bombay Brasserie in Bradford and The Samarkand in Heckmondwike, both of which I visited a few times and enjoyed their food very much.

[976bar]

Hi, I have been eating curries for nearly 50 years now, since my mother (Cantonese) used to cook them for me using good old Venkat curry powder...delicious but didn't half stink the house out. This was back in the day in a small provincial English town where it was often quite difficult to buy long grain rice, let alone any other decent ingredient. She did later progress to buying tins of haldi, jeera etc from the local Indian shop which arrived with the Asian refugees from Uganda in late 60s.
My real love affair with curry however began in the mid 70s as a student in Birmingham when I used to explore the more authentic ends of the Ladypool Road and was there for the birth of the now ubiquitous "balti".
My tastes and budget went upmarket with my first job with an expense account that was well plundered at the Gaylord on New Street where I experienced some truly epic feasts. Throughout my time in Brum I remained loyal to Balsall Heath and to cafes such as Saleems and Adils in particular.
A period of exile in the US for two years made me realise how much I enjoyed (and missed) a good curry and one of my fond memories was to cook a chicken curry for my cousins in Mississippi, the first they had ever had, which they enjoyed greatly.
To be continued...

John

Welcome to the forum Johnevans

I too visited the Gaylord on New Street many years ago when I was working up in Brum and what a lovely place it is.

I'm sure you will find plenty to tantalise your taste buds on this site and quite an enthusiastic crowd to banter with too!!

As you've probably seen we cater for just about anything Indian on here plus some "other Cuisines" too.

Feel free to ask any questions from anyone, enjoy the recipes and if you have anything wonderful to contribute to the site in terms of recipes then please feel free to post.

Above all else ENJOY!!

[Curry King]

Welcome to the forum John, sounds like you know your curry 

[artistpaul]

Hi John and welcome to the site.