Food can give us an insight into different cultures and peoples, writes cross-cultural author Yang-May Ooi. In her new book Land of Hope and Curry – An Idea of England, the spicy aromatic dish beloved of British, Malaysians and, of course, South Asians alike is a starting point to look at identity, legacy and belonging. The book talks about curry, but it’s not really about curry…

It’s Not About Curry

If you have ever met a Malaysian, you will know that we love our food. It is a national identity as much as a pastime, seeking out the best satay stall, trying the new wagyu beef dish at such-and-such restaurant, meeting friends and family over a slap up meal at your favourite food court.

Malaysian Curry

Curry is part of the fusion cuisine of multi-cultural Malaysia. There is Indian curry, with its specific flavours cooked by Sri Lankan and South Indian migrants. There is Malay curry, again specific to the “bumiputra” Malay culture. And there is Nyonya curry, a mix of Malay and Chinese flavours evolved from the inter-marriage of Chinese traders who made their home in Malaya (as it then was) with local Malay women back in the 16th century that created the distinctive Peranakan culture. 

Raj Curry

Now that I am British, I still love food, bringing that curiosity of my Malaysian palate to all the dishes that modern multi-cultural Britain has to offer. I love trying Argentinian, Polish, Spanish, Georgian, mainland Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese, Thai and all manner of other international restaurants. I also love a good British gastropub and traditional British dishes like crumble, Sunday roast and shepherd’s pie. 

And like all British folk, I love “a good Indian”  – where “meal” is implied at the end of that phrase – whether eating in at a restaurant or as a takeaway. 

I did not initially take to British curry – or, perhaps more accurately, Raj curry. Back in the 1970s, the curry I came across at school in England was that weird concoction that was leftover from the Raj. It was always chicken. It was more a stew than a curry. It had mild curry-ish flavoured spices. And it had pineapple chunks and raisins in it – what the heck…!

Bleah.

I’m relieved that this colonial version of curry seems to have gone the way of the Empire. 

Though oddly, those same ingredients mixed with mayo and slathered over cold white chicken meat to create Coronation Chicken makes for a rather delicious concoction. 

British Curry

When I first had an Indian meal at an Indian restaurant in England, well, gosh, how yummy is that Indian curry!

Indian curry in Britain does not taste at all like the Indian curry cooked up in Malaysia. Many of the curry restaurants in the UK offer flavours from Pakistani, Bengali, Sri Lankan heritage as much as Indian lineage. Many of the dishes have been adapted for the European palate. So they all have a distinct Britishness to their flavours.

Notably the famous Chicken Tikka Masala was, according to legend, created when Indian restaurants added a creamy tomato based sauce (possibly condensed tinned tomato soup) to the grilled tikka dish to make it less spicy for British palates. (There are contenders for the first Indian chef to do this in articles online but the actual person is not known for certain.) As I wrote in my previous article, Chicken Tikka Masala, or CTM, is today acknowledged as Britain’s national dish.

Some dishes were created specifically in Britain for the British – such as Balti dishes, which have their origin in Birmingham. It was said to have been invented by a chef of Pakistani heritage specifically for “white Brummies” who wanted mild curries that were quick to come to the table and off-the-bone ready to eat. 

You might thus say that CTM is a British dish and Balti, too, the former standing for a national palate that is largely multi-cultural and the latter having been created in Britain for the British by a British chef. 

Might it then be more accurate to say that I love “a good British” as much as I love “a good Indian” when I talk about loving an Indian meal?

A Kaleidoscopic Cultural Memoir with a Curry Flavour

My new book Land of Hope and Curry – An Idea of England is not about curry. It is not a recipe book. It is not a gastronomic travelogue. Curry does feature but as part of a kaleidoscopic cultural memoir about identity, legacy and belonging. It is a way in to looking at the two cultures – actually, three cultures (Chinese, Malaysian and British) that have made me who I am. And through that personal story, a further way in to exploring the journey of my birth-county from British Malaya to Independent Malaysia and alongside that, the journey of Britain from Empire to trying to find its role in the modern post-colonial world. 

Land of Hope and Curry – An Idea of England will be published by River Light Press in 2026.