JOIN USUntil recently, chicken tikka masala was called Britain's favourite dish, but a new poll claims that the tingling taste buds have moved on to the spicier jalfrezi, a dish invented during the Mughal era in north India.
According to the poll by 'Chaat!', the in-house magazine of the British Curry Club, the jalfrezi is now the most popular choice of customers in Indian restaurants in Britain.
The chicken tikka masala, widely seen as a dish invented in Britain, has fallen to the eighth place in the poll.
Dave Jenkins, the editor of magazine, told the Daily Telegraph: "It's really interesting to see that jalfrezi has topped the list. Being a spice lover myself, I think this is great news. People have been depending on the milder curries for too long now, so it's great to see some more adventurous dishes topping the list."
Of the 1,058 people surveyed, 21 per cent voted for the jalfrezi and 18 per cent for the 'madras' dish. Rogan josh came third, with 11 per cent.
The korma could only manage 10th place with two per cent of votes.
Ghulam Noon, the Mumbai-born entrepreneur regarded as Britain's 'curry king', said he was not surprised by the poll findings.
He told the newspaper: "People's taste buds have changed. It is not only Asian food, but Italian, Mexican and Malaysian too. Restaurants used to dole out insipid curries. No longer.
Also people are used to hot curries now…(but) extraordinarily hot is never tasty."