Curry - in Canada?
 

Hello Everyone,

From what I am reading, you can't get a decent curry in Canada, honestly?

I have been told, I make a good curry, Korma, Pathia etc which entertains our large group of friends and sometimes I cater for the local pub for a special night. Is this a talent I might be able to utilise if we get to Canada, on a commercial basis?

I don't have many talents and am grasping for things I might be able to do!!!!

Thanks
Vicky

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Well .....you will have to let Brits that grew up on Ruby be the judge of that. It's no good asking born and bred Canadians where to get decent fish and chip ;)

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

It depends on where your going. Many Canadians view curry like Brits did in the '70's.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

We have several places we can get a decent curry from. All depends where you live?

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

You can easily get many kinds of curry in the GTA. Outside of the GTA people only eat stewed moose and potatoes and wouldn't thank you for the best korma in the world.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Moose curry sounds like it should be a hit with the locals.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

It isn't bad...

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Good. Its nice to see them do other things with them rather just **** them.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

In another life, when there was always a "bottle of moose" in the fridge, I made a moose curry. I didn't make another.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Quite a few places for decent curry in Vancouver. I do tend to ask them to make it a little hotter, which I never did in the UK.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Or Road Kill Curry !

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

home made curry or pub curry just dont cut it in my world..even those dont taste the same as a proper takeway one.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Let's see. Peterborough, Ontario, has a population of 80,000 and two Indian restaurants. We drive 90 minutes into the GTA to get a good restaurant rather than use either of those.

There are plenty of locals people who have never tasted Indian food and have no wish to do so.

If you can cook a quality meal to restaurant standard then you might be in business.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Hi

What are you thinking of? opening up a restaurant?

I would buy a ton of decent curries to put in my freezer here. I miss my curries a lot! and I haven't found a decent one yet! :)

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

There must be 7 or 8 Indian curry houses here in Regina and the lunch buffets all seem to rely on the same 7 or 8 staple dishes. They would no doubt fail if you Brits rated them. I have no notion of what English take-away curries are like but they must be outstanding from what I read here and on the fishing forums. Btw there's an English specialty shop recently opened here but I haven't stopped in yet.
Flashman, I've probably eaten waaayyyy more roadkill than anyone on this forum :lol: please don't be judgemental.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Surrey, BC has some of the best Curry houses in Canada. Kamloops on the other hand (where I live) has some of the worst places.

Like others have said, it all depends on where you live.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

"Proper" Indian food originated with the Bengali population of East London. It has developed in its own way and now even has dishes that would not be recognizable to someone fresh off the boat from Mumbai.

I'm not knocking it. English Indian food is very tasty.

There are plenty of Indian Restaurants in the Lower Mainland but the population here is mostly Punjabi and the food is not infused with several decades of Englishness. It tastes a little different. Sometimes very good, but a little different.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Green Lettuce at Vic and Kingsway and the 2nd location in Surrey has Desi style - Chinese food prepared for Indian tastes, and I love it. I've never gotten it from the one in Surrey but the Kingsway place is a must-do whenever I'm in Van.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Yeah but yeah, people say that but. I've eaten many meals cooked by people from India, mainly Gujarati and Punjabi, and eaten in restaurants in Southall and Wembley and Bedford. So I reckon I know an Indian Indian meal when I eat one.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

And if you didn't want anyone to know, (ie: remain anonymous), but still wanted someone to sing about it, (moose curry), the logical singer would be Nana Mouskouri!

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

I am not disputing your knowledge. I know you know what you are talking about when it comes to food. I was just trying to put caretaker's observations in context.

I used to live in Hanwell too and feel like I have eaten in every restaurant on both sides of the Uxbridge Road, especially for the two years I worked in Uxbridge and commuted by bus. Despite enjoying the delights of Southall my favourite restaurant was a Nepalese place just by Boston Manor station. Can't remember its name though.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

oops yes, sorry. I think I was harking back to the many threads that say that Indian food isn't authentic, when that isn't necessarily so. Lol, it may be bad but it can still be authentic ;)

I never went to the Nepalese place though I have heard of it. My last visit back we ate in Sudbury Hill, very nice food.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

never mind curries, i wish i could find somewhere that does a proper Donner Kebab, none of this Donair Kebob carry on!

i want the crap bits of the Lamb they wouldn't give to the dogs, not the crap bits of the cow! :D

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

I very much doubt there are any Indian type restaurants in Canada owned/operated by anyone not from Indian sub continent. Why don't you take your beefs about the quality, number of outlets and how to spell kabob/kebob, donner/donair up with that ethnic group. That might stop the whinging to people who have little or no interest in Indian type food.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

now, now, don't be a sourpuss. It's so unCanadian :sneaky:

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

My next door neighbours are from Bangladesh. I get ALL the most amazing food I can stuff in my yap.

Yay me!!!!!:)

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

:D I once watched a program in the UK on how they were made... and the tests they did in some restaurants on the donner twirly thing they have. They broke it down and some of the meat in the middle was like completely mouldy and rank.:eek:

I've never had one since ;)

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

ever watched the documentary on how they make Scotch Pies?

horrible...

but they still taste great...and go brilliantly with a cup of Bovril at 3.45pm on a Saturday! :)

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Nope... go on spill the beans... I actually like a nice scotch pie with a dollop of brown sauce :D

I've tried to like bovril to drink (my parents love it) but I just can't get there with it :eek:

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Thanks everyone for the replies,
must get a recipe book for road kill, will make the pennies or cents go further!
Had rabbit curry once, it was quite nice....

Was thinking more of a small cottage size industry supplying ready made curry meals but thats me dreaming again;)

I have to get back to reality and do more research for proper jobs I might be able to find once over.

Thanks
Vicky

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Otherwise....you might have to bring in Chef Ramsey ;)

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Well, Vicky, if you were near a larger city with one or more of those 'British Treasures' shops and they didn't already have someone doing it you might be onto something. The stuff freezes and keeps, you don't have to run around because 1 place to deliver, and it's apparently in demand. I don't see a downside....... get on your google and it shouldn't be too hard to find your market. If you have good success there's a continental grocery industry that doesn't sell that product yet, and .........
Tomas Bata, founder of Bata Shoes told a story about sending salesmen to Africa. One salesman cabled back, "Situation hopeless, the people here don't even wear shoes." The other salesman wrote back, "Possibilities endless! No one here has shoes yet!" So you've got a customer base in ex-pats and anyone else who likes curry, (and there are a lot), an untapped market, (grocery stores here all have pasta, sushi, roast chickens, etc, but no English curries). You could probably get away without buying any advertising if you start in the specialty shops, and even if they have one or two brands of what you want to make there may be room for yours as well. I'm going to go in that store today and look for curry and I'll get back to you.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Thanks Caretaker,

Am thinking about doing it here first, trying to sell locally, get my hand in so to speak.

Now you have me started again.......just got to get the hubby more confident about passing redseal exams!!!

Thanks
Vicky

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

That depends where you are. There's a petrol station east of here with a sign advertising "samosas, butter chicken" (butter chicken, for the uninitiated, is a Canadian dish, essentially curry without spices). I don't know how you eat butter chicken while driving but that's an example of a place offering the nearest saleable equivalent to curry (saleable in most of the country).

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Just a thought but does anyone know of import restrictions on spices, curry powders etc? Or can they be purchased within Canada?
Any restrictions from USA to Canada?

Will research.

Thanks
Vicky

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

The feasibility of importing from the US will depend on your location in Canada. If you're in Toronto you can go to Little India or Brampton and get 'most anything. Driving to Buffalo will not improve your supply options. If you're in Calgary you might have less choice than in Toronto but Montana isn't renowned for its amber swathes of saffron.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

I gassed up at a place in Montana that sold whisky, beer, and guns and ammo all in 1 room, but no curry. The Indian buffets here all have curried chicken, butter chicken, dal, spicy potatoes of some sort, pakoras, and a couple of other veggie dishes, plus nan bread and the servers come to the table once in awhile with tandoori chicken. Some places are much better than others, but I don't go often, preferring Vietnamese.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

Butter chicken isn't a Canadian dish..i have had butter chicken in the UK and seen it many times in lots of Indian takeaways menus back home and im sure Tesco and Sainsbury sell butter chicken too.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

exported from Regina. People think Canadian food is only Kraft Dinner, salt beer dinner and peameal bacon but there's a whole world of bland.

Re: Curry - in Canada?
 

since when?