Things heat up this National Curry Week

This week is the 21^st annual National Curry Week.

It’s no secret that in Britain we have a bit of a love affair with a good curry. It was the 1970s when curry houses started popping up in earnest around the country, but the first recorded curry recipe in English was in a cookery book all the way back in 1747. In fact, commercially produced curry powder first appeared in a shop in London in 1780.

The modern word curry comes from the Tamil ‘kari’ which is a spiced sauce served with rice. Everyone has their own personal favourites. The Tikka Masala apparently counts for one in seven curries eaten in the UK – but it’s not a traditional Indian curry at all, having thought to have been invented in Glasgow in 1971. Although in research two years ago which shocked the nation (OK, we may be exaggerating slightly….) the Korma actually beat the Tikka Masala, with one in five opting for the coconut cream-based curry as their favourite dish. Maybe it was just a blip that year. Madras, Jalfrezi and Vindaloo then typically follow as our favourite curry varieties.

For those who prefer things as hot as possible there’s the Chicken Naga, with plenty of Naga pepper seeds (855,000 on the Scoville Scale - 100 times hotter than jalapeño peppers). Or how about the ‘Flaming Fiery Phaal’ which includes the Naga but also the Scorpion pepper – a scary 1,500,000 on the Scoville Scale! You might need a few pints of milk or tubs of yoghurt to hand eating that one.

Although, admittedly understandably in that case, we may be nervous to try something new, apparently one in three of us always order the same thing when we have an Indian – we’re creatures of habit. But variety is the spice of life, so they say!

If you fancy spicing up your life a bit, at Hunters we have a wide range of curry sauces, spices and accompaniments, as well as some delicious ready to eat products. How about choosing from a selection of Rafis Spices all put together in York,maybe amazing Anila's handmade authentic sauces or  Yorkshire very own Aggrah range of sauces. All totally delicious and easy to combine with your favourite ingredients.

After all, a good curry is second to naan! (sorry….)