Curry lovers in region rated as 'lightweights'
Curry lovers in the region have been rated as “lightweights” by new research.
A curry heat map of the UK, produced by from DIY curry kit company Boom Kitchen, rates Middlesborough as the vindaloo capital on the UK.
But it says Wolverhampton rates second in terms of areas where people prefer to have cooler curries.
Boom Kitchen found 27 per cent in the city prefer a mild korma – just behind Gloucester at 32 per cent – with the national averaged 18 per cent.
The nationwide research of 5,000 Britons found 30 per cent of those from Middlesborough said they regularly devour eye-watering curries such as vindaloos.
That was way above the national average which said just 16 per cent prefer hot curries.
Blackpool came a close second with 29 per cent of those surveyed from the area admitting they would always choose a vindaloo, or something hotter.
In third place was Canterbury, where 28 per cent enjoy a fiery dish.
The study found that, overall, there are almost the same number of hot vindaloo lovers (16 per cent) as there are creamy korma fans (18 per cent).
James Doel, co- founder of Boom Kitchen, said: “Super-hot curries used to be for the hard-core.
Experiment
“However, it appears they are actually now just as popular as milder curry dishes.
“We try and encourage people to experiment with the flavours and heat you can get from different types of chillies such as the Naga chilli.
“It’s all very well loading your curry up with chilli powder, but that tends to just melt your mouth off.
“It doesn’t really add much flavour,” he added.
Vindaloo is a traditional recipe from Goa, on India’s south western coast.
However it was first created in Portugal, where an earlier version of the dish then made its way to Goa with Portuguese explorers on ships in the early 15th century.
Korma is an anglicisation of the Urdu word qorma, meaning to braise with the meat being cooked in yoghurt and mild spices.
The study also found that 46 per cent of people claim to be cooking more curries from scratch.
In addition it said 18 per cent of people are buying more takeaway curries than ever before.
The survey also suggested more than a fifth of people have expanded their repertoire of recipes over lockdown to include curry dishes.
