Why is Indian food so popular in the UK?

Chicken Tikka Masala is the most popular dish in the UK and even outstrips Fish and Chips as the UK’s national dish. A standard night out in England always ends with a ‘curry’….Why is this? The Asian community has been growing in the UK since the early 1950’s when Indian food first came to the UK. Since then a lot of dishes have been created specifically for the English palate such as Chicken Tikka Masala and recently the Phall curry which was created in Birmingham.

Not only are Indian restaurants the most popular in the UK but British Asians and now Christians have started using Indian catering for events such as weddings and birthdays. This is a big change as in the past; the menu for Christian weddings would have entirely consisted of British food. Now more and more menus have Indian food items and in some cases the menus are entirely Indian. Asian catering in the UK has grown leaps and bounds in the last 20 years and due to the increase in popularity there have been more and more companies opening up.

Manchester has become the hub for Indian catering in recent years with great additions along with a full range of Indian restaurants. Whether it’s Indian catering, Indian wedding catering or Indian corporate hospitality, Manchester is only second to London when it comes to Indian food. The range of dishes available in the North West is comparable to London and also India. Indian caterers are offering a much more varied menu, with food from all regions of India including Jain, Gujarati, South Indian, Bengali and Coastal. It’s this range and variety from the Indian caterers that is enticing more and more people to come and try the food.

Recently along with Indian catering, Indian street food has seen a massive boost with several street food stalls and even restaurants popping up serving all varieties of Indian street food such as Pau Bhaji, Keema Pau, Chicken Tuka Tuk, Aloo Tikki Channa and lots more. Indian food has captured the interest of the public and for now does not seem like dying down.