Kiwi Curries and other ethnic foods

The NZ ‘take’ on curry is different. Looking around the local supermarket it is immediately apparent that it does not enjoy the same status of ‘a national dish’ as it does in the UK. There is not the variety of ingredients, pastes and spices.

I recall my first experience of visiting a NZ Indian Restaurant a number of years ago. A group of trendy young girls came in and all ordered Vodka and lime with Nan bread. They ordered their main dishes and asked for everything ‘mild’. It appears that whatever the Indian dish is you can opt to have it mild, medium or hot!

And as with all things the curry experience has been adapted for NZ tastes. You are OK if you like sweet, creamy and tomato. I ordered a Madras curry recently and it came with added cream and cashew nut butter in the sauce. Butter Chicken and Korma are popular dishes. Some Indian chains are a little more like the UK: Little India is a little less sweet and creamy.

I have concluded that NZ does not do curry to my taste. Their offerings in Thai, Japanese and Chinese are much more to my liking. Thai food in particular is ubiquitous with NZ cuisine and often very good.

One word of warning; the dishes in ethnic restaurants are large and one dish per person is ample.

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