UK’s favourite food faces competition

Award winning international arts organisation ‘motiroti’ will launch its 60x60 Secs film exhibition next month here in London with simultaneous premieres in India and Pakistan in September. 60x60 Secs is the first project of 360 degrees Britain India Pakistan and consists of sixty one minute films by established and emerging artists from the South Asian Diaspora — twenty from each of the three countries.

Each film maker will present their unique views on identity in an age of globalisation. “motiroti’s work is like being immersed in a wide-screen cinematic experience with surround sound. Their thoughtful and beautiful projects inspire and tickle the sensibilities of an exceptionally wide range of audience,” said internationally renowned film maker, Shekar Kapur.

Pushing the boundaries of where work can be seen, audiences will encounter these films on TV, digital arts and film festivals, art galleries, cinemas, public spaces such as shopping malls, cafes and restaurants and in-flight entertainment. 360°Britain India Pakistan is motiroti’s three-year programme of exchanges that will bring to light a rounded and contemporary picture of the cultural dynamics between the three countries.

Rise in the price of rice being exported from India and Pakistan is pushing up costs for Indian caterers and restaurants so much that they are struggling to survive. Prices of all varieties of rice including basmati have been rising since 2006 with a huge 55 per cent jump late last year. This has meant that caterers who could offer £5 per head for a banquet up to last year will now have to charge £6.50 per head for exactly the same meal. Tilda, the UK’s biggest basmati selling brand forecasted in its report that low prices of the past are unlikely to return. “India, one of the key exporters has imposed an export ban on all non-basmati rice to tackle rising domestic food price inflation, and therefore pushing up prices here,” explained Jonathan Calland, head of external affairs at Tilda.

“We have tried to keep prices low but ultimately they will have to be passed on to the consumer,” he added. Caterers claimed that hardest hit were those holding weddings. “People are not opting for smaller weddings as far as possible which has been bad business for us,” said Mohammed Farooq of Nadeem Foods who has been in the catering business for the last 20 years..

Talking of food it looks as if Britain’s favourite dish, chicken tikka masala may lose its crown to a new concoction called chicken chasni. The creation of a former chef and restaurant owner Balbir Sumal, chicken chasni is a curry that doesn’t taste like one. “It is more like a sweet and sour chicken that the Chinese have, but is an absolutely beautiful dish because it has Indian spices,” said Sumal. The chicken chasni in Sanjay Majhu’s Harlequin chain of Indian restaurants around the country easily outsells chicken tikka masala by 10 to one. Maybe it will wing its way to Mumbai soon!