Articles
TIMES THEY ARE A' CHANGING
Published: 12/04/2009 by Ann Evans
Award winning chef Rois Ali, owner of MYO Restaurant in Coventry talks to My Indian Meal online about how this country sees Indian food in the 21st century.
Anyone who attended the glittering presentation ceremony of the Great British Curry Awards 2009 at the beginning of November in London could not have failed to be impressed by the grandeur and prestige of the event.
Hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald and attended by more than 1,500 restaurateurs, diplomats, MPs and celebrity guests including the Tory Party Leader, David Cameron who pointed out that the spice restaurant business employs around 100,000 people and is a £3.5 billion industry, it was clear that the Asian food business is now recognised as a highly respected and important part of the British economy.
Like many top Indian restaurateurs, Rois Ali has been in the business all of his life. He was one of the hundreds of restaurateurs at the ceremony, and was thrilled to be a finalist in the Best Casual Dining Restaurant.
Rois has long been a fervent promoter of the curry industry both locally and nationally. He was the original Hot Chef in the first of the Bradford Curry Awards, and was instigational in the drive to eliminate artificial food colourings from curries.
Looking back to how things have changed over the last 40 years Rois recalls how Indian restaurants were regarded in the early days. He says, “During the 1970's and 80's we were basically serving to people that had drunk 15-20 pints of lager and come spilling out from the nightclubs into the curry house at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning yelling obscenities, using abusive words. There were poppadoms on the table, chutneys on the face, and a whole lot of trouble. Thankfully that has improved over the years.
“Now people realise that Indian food isn't about Chicken Vindaloos, Madras or who can eat the hottest curry in town. It's all about quality, fragrance and individual flavours. We've created dishes like Chicken Tikka Masala, which is one of the nation's favourite dishes – even beating fish and chips!
“In the 1990's many Balti houses opened. Initially they started in Ladypoole Road in Birmingham and brought the flavours from the Kashmir side of Pakistan, where they use a lot of garlic, ginger and coriander to create very, very strong flavours with a lot of sauce, where you dip in a table-sized naan into the sauce.
“It was cheap and cheerful for the student market and became very popular. I think that a lot of people were crazy about the Balti House in the 90's. I think that the Balti House straight away had its style, had its flare, and now its back to authentic, which is where I think it will stay.”
“I think that the way Asian business has grown over the years is phenomenal, especially in the restaurant trade. In the 1960's there were very few Indian restaurants. In the 1970's there were a handful in each town and in 2009 we have at least 20,000 Indian restaurants here in the UK. I would say that there are more here now than anywhere else in the world. The combined turnover of these restaurants is £3.5 billion - so the Indian sector is making a big contribution to the British economy.
This contribution is now being recognised and I think that it's great to see people like myself, coming from deprived areas in cities, opening restaurants and take-aways and making them into big business ventures.
“For these reasons, I think that the Indian restaurant industry deserves a big round of applause and we should congratulate each other for what we have done and be proud of ourselves.”
Anyone who attended the glittering presentation ceremony of the Great British Curry Awards 2009 at the beginning of November in London could not have failed to be impressed by the grandeur and prestige of the event.
Hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald and attended by more than 1,500 restaurateurs, diplomats, MPs and celebrity guests including the Tory Party Leader, David Cameron who pointed out that the spice restaurant business employs around 100,000 people and is a £3.5 billion industry, it was clear that the Asian food business is now recognised as a highly respected and important part of the British economy.
Like many top Indian restaurateurs, Rois Ali has been in the business all of his life. He was one of the hundreds of restaurateurs at the ceremony, and was thrilled to be a finalist in the Best Casual Dining Restaurant.
Rois has long been a fervent promoter of the curry industry both locally and nationally. He was the original Hot Chef in the first of the Bradford Curry Awards, and was instigational in the drive to eliminate artificial food colourings from curries.
Looking back to how things have changed over the last 40 years Rois recalls how Indian restaurants were regarded in the early days. He says, “During the 1970's and 80's we were basically serving to people that had drunk 15-20 pints of lager and come spilling out from the nightclubs into the curry house at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning yelling obscenities, using abusive words. There were poppadoms on the table, chutneys on the face, and a whole lot of trouble. Thankfully that has improved over the years.
“Now people realise that Indian food isn't about Chicken Vindaloos, Madras or who can eat the hottest curry in town. It's all about quality, fragrance and individual flavours. We've created dishes like Chicken Tikka Masala, which is one of the nation's favourite dishes – even beating fish and chips!
“In the 1990's many Balti houses opened. Initially they started in Ladypoole Road in Birmingham and brought the flavours from the Kashmir side of Pakistan, where they use a lot of garlic, ginger and coriander to create very, very strong flavours with a lot of sauce, where you dip in a table-sized naan into the sauce.
“It was cheap and cheerful for the student market and became very popular. I think that a lot of people were crazy about the Balti House in the 90's. I think that the Balti House straight away had its style, had its flare, and now its back to authentic, which is where I think it will stay.”
“I think that the way Asian business has grown over the years is phenomenal, especially in the restaurant trade. In the 1960's there were very few Indian restaurants. In the 1970's there were a handful in each town and in 2009 we have at least 20,000 Indian restaurants here in the UK. I would say that there are more here now than anywhere else in the world. The combined turnover of these restaurants is £3.5 billion - so the Indian sector is making a big contribution to the British economy.
This contribution is now being recognised and I think that it's great to see people like myself, coming from deprived areas in cities, opening restaurants and take-aways and making them into big business ventures.
“For these reasons, I think that the Indian restaurant industry deserves a big round of applause and we should congratulate each other for what we have done and be proud of ourselves.”
Award winning chef Rois Ali - Photos Rob Tysall
