Ask any Brit what their national dish is, and they'll happily tell you it's chicken tikka masala. Indian cuisine has become an integral part of UK's cosmopolitan lifeline, but with immigration laws becoming tougher over the years, restaurants are unable to fly down overseas chefs on short-term visas like it was possible earlier.
A law passed in 2016 stated that skilled chefs from South Asia must earn at least £35,000 or more a year to work in British Indian restaurants that also offer takeaway service. The figure is higher for restaurants without takeaway services.
Lord Bilimoria, Founder of Cobra beer is part of an all-party parliamentary group lobbying to reverse the law, which he calls “ridiculous” and “discriminatory”. He told The Guardian that no ordinary curry chef earns £35,000, where the industry average is £22-25,000 but the cooks who marinate lamb chops and mix raita get less.
Oli Khan, the Senior VP of the Bangladeshi Caterer's Association (BCA) told the Asian Voice that the curry industry is facing much pressure, with nearly 2 to 3 small restaurants having to shut down every month. At this rate, there is bound to be a curry crisis in the near future.
“The curry industry contributes £4.5 billion to the British economy every year and the government should do more to help the industry,” said Khan. “There are nearly 12,000 Indian restaurants in the UK, vis a vis 10,000 Mc Donald outlets. The government should be doing more to support this industry.”
Unfortunately, the Brexit rules under Theresa May’s government, will pose further hindrances in the labour and service market. At the moment, nearly 25 to 30 percent of the people working in curry houses are East Europeans.
New immigration policies says that people from the EU will be able to come to work on short-term two years visas, pay taxes but not claim benefits. Oli Khan says that “the same could be applied to overseas South Asian chefs for a two-year time period. But that is not going to happen.”
Since the Conservative- Liberal Coalition came to power in 2010, the net migration into Britain has been substantially reduced, and this has had a direct impact on the Indian restaurants, traditionally run in the UK by Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and Indians.
Brexit will bring in “huge challenges” but some of the new restaurant owners are trying to spot the silver lining and make it work to their advantage. The grossly under-staffed Indian restaurants are now looking inwards, hiring people from different ethnic backgrounds in the UK and training them to take on specialised jobs.
Dhruv Mittal, Founder of DUM Biriyani House in Soho, is of the opinion that the flavours of Indian cuisine has depleted in an attempt to Anglicise it for local consumption. “The food industry is evolving fast and I am optimistic about starting on a clean slate with local European chefs. The old curry house concepts of the chicken tikka masala, chicken korma etc are dying out and that is a good thing. London is a massive hub of culture and cuisine and the food is moving towards a fusion, to provide different food formations, and this phenomenon is becoming increasingly successful,” Dhruv said.
The focus has also shifted to regional cuisines - as the astute UK customers understand the good versus the bad Indian food. “Solid regional Indian cuisine that represented authenticity was not apprehended earlier – like the Andhra and Hyderabadi cuisine we serve. So even though its spicy, people are appreciating it for its authenticity and coming back to it again,” said Dhruv.
Shrimoyee Chakraborty, Founder of Calcutta Street at Fitzrovia said that she hired local staff for her kitchen to combat the chef deficit and used intelligent techniques to train them. “It all depends on how sophisticated your training packages are and on how well you are able to motivate your staff. The recipes I have are all my own – I spend quality time to train and polish them.
"There is such a shortage of chefs specialising in Indian cuisine here that they are now demanding exorbitant rates that small restaurant owners like us cannot afford. Indian chefs are simply taking advantage of the situation,” Shrimoyee said.
Will this result in a compromise on the quality and service of this popular cuisine? How will all the challenges change the dynamics of the Indian cuisine that has become Britain’s lifeline and lifestyle? Will the curry industry be able to sustain itself – all these are speculations at this stage, just like Brexit, we can only wait and watch.
