I’m not a Brit. Nor lazy.
DH’s family lived in India and Nepal for most of his childhood & growing up years. He has years’ worth of experience in various regions thereof and knows plenty about their history & heritage, the various cultures and the similarities/differences in their relevant cuisines.
I lived in India as a child, 35+ years ago. I still get a hankering for a proper mango, all these years later. When I was pregnant and suffering so badly with morning sickness (all bloody day and night long!), struggling to keep anything down and being sick multiple times daily, my body craved dal and chapati/naan/roti/puri like you wouldn’t believe. I was living in Russia at the time and it was impossible to get anything like that. I was too unwell to make it myself. So I survived on tinned lentils and veg because it was the closest thing I could get. Sad times for me...Anyway, I’m getting off track!
No one in our family and friends circles orders a Korma when we go out, nor a tikka masala. And even in all my nights out with work (three different workplaces, dozens of people), I can only remember one person who ever ordered a korma. She didn’t like hot food. So I don’t suppose that ‘most brits’ order a Korma when they want a curry.
Neither of us likes a korma at all, but we’ll happily eat a tikka masala if we fancy a supermarket ready meal and that’s what they’ve got. Or even cook one ourselves if we’re in the mood. However we’re well aware that it’s not a ‘real’ curry. We’re totally okay with that - it’s still quite nice to eat.
We regularly cook actual south Asian recipes, from people from that part of the world, using what authentic ingredients we can source. We watch their YouTube cookery videos, often in their languages (with subtitles because sadly we’re not talented linguists although DH obviously understands quite a bit from some regions having lived there for much longer than I did), and learn from them. We have plenty of appreciation for the richness and variety of the region’s foods and that is not in any way diminished because we sometimes use a bit of shorthand when referring to a curry house or a curry meal. Anyone who wants to assume that either of us are thick on that very limited basis will, in fact, be quite wrong.
We’re having tandoori chicken tomorrow. Sadly not cooked in an actual tandoor, but we’ll make do. We’ll make our own blend of spices for the marinade, and cook up a fantastic dal tadka to go with it, and probably knock up some flatbreads too although we haven’t decided what type yet. I’m so looking forward to it.
All that to say, uhm I don’t really know what I was saying...but I do know that it’s time for a drink! 🍻 Cheers and goodnight to all!