Indian Food Is Better in London Than India
Indian food makes a great Supper Club menu. It even works great for the hosts that: “Don’t cook, but know where to buy”.
My love of Indian food goes back to my friend Sunil Gersappe. He was born and raised in India, but lived in London for over 30 years. He was a distributor of ours and we had a tradition of going out for Indian food whenever we were in London on business, which was quite often. The trouble that many Americans have is that they like Indian food; they just don’t know what to order. Sunil took care of the ordering and we learned to love everything he ordered.
(Sunil dressed for dinner at the Savoy circa 1997)
London has become famous for its Indian food. Many say Indian food is better in the U.K. than it is in India. In London, Indian food has the highest number of Michelin stars (six) after French cuisine (13) and double the number of Italian (three). The other big reason that Indian food is better in the U.K. Is that the quality of the ingredients is better. India is notorious for food poisoning.
For years John Argiro, our international Sales Manager tried to convince me to go to India. One time John and Sunil went to India and poor Sunil got sicker than a dog. Here is a guy that was born and raised there and he got sick. After hearing Sunil’s horror stories, India fell off of my travel list. I’ll stick to London as my favorite destination for Indian food.
While I occasionally try to make Indian food, when I do, I always think of Sunil. Again, here he was an Indian from India, but he hated it when his wife Kalyani cooked Indian at home. He claimed that the spices made the house stink for weeks.
Unfortunately, Sunil passed way to early, but because of him, I know what I like when it comes to Indian food. Give me:
- Chicken tikka masala,
- A couple different curry dishes
- Basmati rice,
- Tandoori Chicken
- Naan
…and I am a happy man.
Come to think of it, combine that menu with a few bottles of wine and you can have a Supper Club menu that Sunil would love. And remember, Sunil certainly wouldn’t mind ordering “takeaway” from your local Indian restaurant to keep the house smelling fresh.
If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.