Excursia | London, EN, UK | Dining: London's Stars of India

London, England, UK

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London's Stars of India

Indian restaurants, however unfairly, have generally been associated in the British psyche with cheap spicy curries, washed down with lager, once the pubs have closed. In fact, out of an estimated 3,500 Indian restaurants in London alone, there have always been excellent establishments with fine reputations and plenty of appreciative customers to keep them full seven days a week. The awarding of a Michelin star -- the highest accolade in culinary circles -- to two London-based Indian restaurants -- Tamarind in Mayfair and Zaika in Fulham -- this year, merely confirms what many fans of British Indian cuisine have known all along -- that it is one of the most sophisticated, original and varied cuisines in the world. The American film star, Tom Cruise, is reputed to have sent his private plane from a location shoot in Italy to pick up his favourite dishes from one top London-based establishment. These days, it's considered a national dish, with more Indian meals ordered "to go," than any other type of take-away, including the once British staple, fish and chips! Even among the more middle-of-the-road venues, a quiet revolution has been going on, reinforcing the numerous differences between regions and styles of cooking as well as the cultural distinctions.

Many of the top chefs were trained by world class hotels such as the Oberoi (Cafe Lazeez) and Taj in India, and as Charles Campion, of London's Evening Standard newspaper (and a great aficionado of Indian food) said recently of Veeraswamy, one of the city's most established restaurants, "This place is not 'good-looking for an Indian restaurant,' it's a good-looking restaurant, full stop. And the food is not 'accomplished for an Indian restaurant,' but accomplished by any criteria."

Whilst it is said that the vast number of Indian restaurateurs actually come from Bangladesh, London is full of restaurants serving up predominantly vegetarian cuisine from Southern India, fish-based recipes from Goa -- where the cooking was heavily influenced by its former Portuguese colonial masters -- and hundreds of other regional variations. Often still run as a family business, the preparation of Indian food is labour-intensive and requires particularly fresh ingredients to give the authentic flavour to the different sauces and coatings.

Many dishes can be traced back to their orginal homes in spite of being simplified for the British palate. The ubiquitous chicken tikka masala probably emanates from mughlay chicken; the chilli bhaji is Bombay street food; dosas and uppumas come from the south, and the tandoor oven, which gives naan bread its wonderful burnt and bubbled appearance and tenderises meat to perfection, is a north-western frontier invention.

Flock wallpaper and busy carpets are giving way to smart interiors, with a number of Indian restaurants employing top designers to give their restaurants a more modern feel. Wine lists are being revised and expanded to suit the many rich spicy dishes, with New World wines -- especially in the white wine categories -- becoming something of a benchmark and the more confident owner making specific recommendations alongside certain types of dishes. Many restaurants are actually reporting higher sales of wines than the traditional accompaniment of beer.

If you haven't tried an "Indian" in London, now is perhaps the best opportunity you'll ever have, with restaurant-goers being forced to admit that the cuisine they have so long taken for granted but thought of as cheap and cheerful has now very much come of age.