History

Mistakenly regarded by many as a humble, cheap fair – we ought to remember curry’s royal connections

The Moghul Emperors, known for their pursuit of aesthetic pleasures regarded cooking as the most noble artform.

The first British seafarers were granted a royal charter to break the Dutch monopoly of the spice trade in Tudor times.

The first Indian restaurant, Hindoostane Coffee House, was opened in London in 1810 by Sake Dean Mahomed, who went on to become ‘personal shampooing surgeon’ to George IV.,

The Empress of India’ Queen Victoria was introduced to Indian cuisine by her ‘Munshi’, Abdul Karim.   From that point on she ate curry every day, for the next 25 years.

The tradition of drinking a refreshing lager with curry also has royal origins. Attending the British Empire Exhibition in 1924, Prince Axel of Denmark sampled the delights served by Veeraswamy (London’s first high end Indian restaurant) in the Indian Government Pavilion.  Prince Axel later visited the Regent Street restaurant, bringing a barrel of Carlsberg with him. It proved popular and the restaurant decided to import it. 

The democratisation of today’s modern curry restaurants can be traced back directly to the docks in East London, where cheap guest houses catering for Sylheti merchant sailors were served spiced stews soon attracted seamen of other nationalities.