What’s new in the world of curry? Armed with my notebook and camera I have just been to this year’s Ethnic Foods trade show in Birmingham to find out. Ethnic Foods is a showcase for companies selling all manner of spicy foods - curries, sauces, pickles, breads, snacks, you name it. It was noticeable this year that the innovative companies were concentrating on freshness and flavour and I found some quality new products which are about to hit the shops.

With a name like Maaji & Baaji’s you would expect something a little different and this home-made chutney and pickle maker didn’t disappoint. The company was born out of the frustration of its creator, Wasel Shahid. He was serving quality food in his restaurant but the factory-made pickles he was buying were not at all authentic and too harsh to complement his fine dishes. So, in the manner of the best entrepreneurs, he decided to make his own and Maaji & Baaji’s is the result. I tasted a sample of a new addition to their range - a chilli and ginger chutney. It was excellent. Nicely balanced between sweet and sour, not too hot and full of fresh gingery flavour. They also make "aam gulab" - a mango chutney with rose essence (which sounds odd but the flowery aroma goes really well with the sweet mango), an incredibly hot but very tasty chilli pickle and the traditional lime, mango and vegetable pickles. You should be able to find Maaji &Baaji’s pickles and chutneys at delicatessens and specialist food halls in the not too distant future.

It was inevitable that there would be a host of ready made curry sauces at the Ethnic Food Show and sure enough you could almost drown in them (if you were so inclined)! The new curry sauces on the market were mainly of the fresh/chilled variety rather than the familiar bottled sort. Two up and coming players in the "food service" market (that’s pubs and restaurants to you and me) are The Curry Sauce Co. and Viceroy. Both sell a complete range of Indian restaurant style sauces to add to chicken, meat or vegetables. Look out for a tasting session of their products soon on The Curry House. The Curry Sauce Co. have finally broken into the supermarkets this year and you will be able to find their tikka masala and jalfrezi sauces in 50 branches of Budgens.

What about something for the younger curry fan? After all, you can’t start early enough can you? So I was delighted to see a selection of baby foods in spicy flavours. They are made by Mother Nature Baby Foods and are all GM free and Halal certified. There’s chicken korma, lamb korma and a variety of lentil meals. Sounds yummy although I didn’t actually try them myself you understand! Mother Nature products are available in selected branches of Asda, Somerfield and Lloyds chemists.

If you fancy a change from nan breads then what about my favourite - parathas? I found a delicious range of frozen parathas at the Shana stand. They come in plain, onion and stuffed with mixed vegetables or aloo palak (potato and spinach). My favourite was the plain paratha which was light and flaky just like it should be. You use them straight from the freezer and heat for a few minutes on a dry griddle or frying pan. They will be available in Asian grocers and specialist food stores.

My prize for the top ready made curry has to go to another frozen product. The frozen curries made by "Ready2" were miles better than any supermarket chilled meals you can buy. You would be hard pushed to tell their chicken tikka masala apart from a restaurant curry. Ansuruz Zaman, the head of Raj Authentic Indian Cuisine who make Ready2 meals, explained to me that the reason the curries taste so fresh and smooth is that they don’t need all the food acids that chilled meals use to extend their shelf life. The freezing preserves the curries instead. Ready2 curries will be available in convenience stores so have a look in the freezer cabinet next time you visit your local corner shop.

Ansuruz Zaman of Raj Authentic Indian Cuisine

That’s it for this year’s show except for the "well, I never" slot. If you are a long-standing curry fan and remember Vesta curries then you may shudder at this but .... dried curries are back!!!!!! An Indian company called "Curry in a Hurry" have brought out a range of 10 authentic Indian vegetarian curries. Just add water, heat and serve. Well, I never!

Copyright David W Smith, 2000
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