When I visited London for the first time earlier this year, I was torn. For my first UK meal, would it be fish and chips in a pub or a bowl of curry on Brick Lane? Both meals are about as typically British as you can get. In fact, according to the“‘Curry factfile” on a UK Food Standards Agency Web site , there are more Indian restaurants in London than in Bombay and Delhi. Britain’s first curry house opened in 1809, and Indian food has since become a UK favorite, accounting for more than 40 percent of all ethnic food sales. The love affair, however, is decidedly one-sided. British cuisine—the term alone elicits snickers from food snobs worldwide—hasn’t exactly taken the Subcontinent by storm. But that’s a fact that one British celebrity chef is out to change.

If Manju Malhi has her way, Indians are going to eat British food. And they’re going to like it.

A story on the BBC explores Malhi’s quest, which includes a 40-part television series on British cooking airing in India. Her strategy: to inject some spice into typically bland British food.

As Malhi puts it: “I have turned the whole process around—in Britain curry is diluted to make it less spicy for the British taste buds, here I’m adding spices to English dishes to make them more acceptable.”

If you ask me, Malhi’s fish and chips recipe—kicked up a notch with turmeric and chili powder—sounds like the best of both worlds.

As Malhi suggests, just as British food is being adapted for Indian tastes, so too has Indian food been adapted for British tastes. One interesting bit of trivia from the UK’s curry factfile: “Chicken tikka masala remains the most popular Indian dish. It’s thought to originate in Britain after an enterprising Indian chef had the idea of adding a tomato and onion paste to the grilled chicken—to satisfy the British preference for food that isn’t dry.”

Related on World Hum:
* Western-Style Supermarkets Threaten Traditional Indian Vendors
* ‘Some 60 Percent of Italian Restaurants Abroad Are Awful’
* Odorless Durian? That Stinks.

Photo by Zesmerelda via Flickr (Creative Commons).