A Briton visiting the United States has revealed the surprising taste differences between a typical British-Indian takeaway and its American variety.
James Edwards, 22, from the United Kingdom, took to TikTok to share the results of a taste test of an Indian takeout from a restaurant in the United States, compared to that in the United Kingdom.
James, a YouTuber and biomedical student at Imperial College London, tried two curries, naan bread and rice at an Indian restaurant on the east coast of the United States.
“Apparently Indians in America are different, so today we’re going to test it and find out if it really is,” he noted at the beginning of the clip.
“If the Americans had really butchered my favorite cuisine, I might cry.”
James Edwards, 22, from the United Kingdom, (pictured) took to TikTok to share the results of a taste test of an Indian takeaway from a restaurant in the United States, compared to that in the United Kingdom.
After placing his order online, James headed out to pick up his dinner, which turned out to come from a location right next to a Subway store.
Skipping the sandwich shop, James took his order and began sampling. The first variation he noticed was the price.
‘Well, something I can say from the beginning. Indian food in the United States is much more expensive,” he said, adding that he had paid a whopping $64 for the few items he had ordered.
“A really random difference in America is that they bake their poppadoms, but this restaurant doesn’t have them for some reason, which is really irritating,” he also noted.
James showed two naans to the camera, one of which was filled with cheese.
To his disappointment, he also discovered that American curry houses do not usually sell peshwari naan, the sweet Indian bread filled with raisins, coconut and sugar loved by the British.
The TikToker also realized that there was the option to choose the spice level in each dish.
“In the United States, you can choose spicy, it’s like Nando’s,” he observed.
James paid a whopping $64 for two naans, two curries and rice to accompany each main course.
After taking a bite of buttered paneer, James said the dish was “really pretty good.”
He described the butter-flavoured curry as “really quite spicy”. He said: “Good for a curry, but definitely spicier than what you find in the UK.”
The British gave the dish an eight and a half out of 10.
Next up was an American-style version of a butter tikka masala, a dish believed to have been invented in the United Kingdom by Indian chefs trying to adapt their recipes to Western tastes.
“Next up is paneer tikka masala, which is basically the English national dish, so if they screw it up I’ll be furious,” he announced.
He first noticed that the color of the plate was different, noting a grayer color than what can be found in the UK.
Surprisingly, James’s overall view did not favor the British version.
Tasting the dish, James deduced that it was “definitely spicier” than what is normally offered in the UK, and “not as tomato-y or sweet”.
Despite not making it to the top for tomatoes, James said the curry was “still good”, giving it another eight and a half out of 10.
Surprisingly, James’s overall view did not favor the British version.
“Maybe the United States is better, but that could be a little controversial,” he confessed.
However, not everyone in the comments agreed with James’ findings.
“One interesting thing about paneer tikka masala is that it’s not supposed to taste like tomato, that’s more UK-like; real paneer tikka masala isn’t usually made with tomato.”
A second wrote: ‘I’ve had both. American Indian food is poor compared to ours in England.
A third agreed that Brits’ love of Indian food is lackluster, writing: “Indian food in the UK is too sweet.”
Another said: “Maybe you’ll find it spicier here because in the UK they had to adapt its flavor to the white palate.”