Here’s our 60 second guide to the True Taste of India:

Ambience 7/10 - The 40 cover restaurant has booth seating down one side and matching cream and brown leather chairs on the other; a semi-modern affect for this traditional ‘curry house’.  The size allows for intimacy and a comfortable atmosphere even with just a few diners in but it can quickly become crowded, added to by those coming in to collect takeaways.  This gives the place its charm and buzz but is also where the service levels can drop.

Service 7/10 - The service is traditionally laid back; attentive when you arrive and up to ordering and then minimal during your meal which most customers seem to appreciate.  These guys have been here a long time and know what they’re doing.  The cliental is mainly regulars and the staff know the boundaries; some may call this complacency, others experience.

Food 8/10 - After our pleasant Tandoori Mix Kebab and Meat Samosa starters, mum and I leave dad to his Chicken Madras, which he describes as “full of flavour and hot enough to leave your lips tingling but without blowing your head off!”  Mum and I tuck into the Sheree-Nag and Tandoori Butter Chicken.  The Sheree-Nag is a medium hot spicy biryani cooked with a bit of everything; tandoori chicken, lamb & chicken tikka, king prawn, green chillies, topped with chunky onions, green peppers, minced meat and served with a Balti sauce.  In contrast the Tandoori Butter Chicken is mild and smooth; chicken off the bone, cooked in Indian butter with almond, coconut, onion and pepper in a Massala sauce. The fact that each ingredient can be tasted in both dishes shows they know how to cook good Indian food.

Dad picks up the bill (around the £65 mark including two rounds of drinks, I’m told); Mum and I pick up an obligatory red carnation each.  We leave happy, satisfied and full, having enjoyed a quality Indian meal by those who know what they’re doing.

Shruti Ray

Today Curry Culture interviews Shruti Ray, an expatriate from New Dehli who moved to Britain 6 months ago to study IT management for a year at the University of Manchester.

Curry Culture: Hello Shruti, tell us about your life in the UK. Are you enjoying it ?

Shruti Ray: Yes I love Manchester and it has been a positive experience so far. I am getting to know a new culture, have met a lot of new people, and have travelled around the UK a little.  I have enjoyed every moment of it so far.

C.C: What’s Britain like compared to India?

S.R: Different weather, different way of life, different culture but at the end of the day, both are great !

C.C: What about the food? Don’t you miss home cooking?

S.R: Yes sure I miss it. Usually when I am at home, my mom cooks chicken tikka and karahi chicken among others so it is a real change for me.

C.C: What do you eat over here ?

S.R: I have to say that I often order take aways or buy ready meals here. I have tried different sorts of food, mostly Chinese and European.  But every once in a while, I try to cook my own “home style” food. I also sometimes go to the Manchester Hindu temple on Sunday as they serve a free traditional Indian meal which is delicious.

C.C: Where do you buy your ingredients from?

S.R: I really love Worldwide which is great when you want to find something special. What is good here in Britain is that, as you are a nation of curry lovers, there are a lot of imported products from India and I feel at home. And of course I go food shopping in other regular supermarkets such as Tesco or Asda.

C.C: Do you know any good restaurants here in Manchester ?

S:R: oh yes, Mughli and  Swadesh. are my favourite.

C.C: When you ate in these, did you notice any difference on menus compared with India?

S.R: I have to admit that the food does not exactly taste the same but I can’t quite put my finger on it. I guess it’s because the food here is not as spicy as at home as it has to be adapted to the British palette. Also, over here they offer Papadums as a starter with various dips but it is not like that where I live. Another difference that I noticed last time I went to the restaurant is that they offer Aloo Parathas (flat-bread) as a starter but in India I eat parathas as a side dish.

Curry Culture Team: Well thank you for your time and we wish you the best for the rest of your stay in England.

Ruby June's Curry Sauces

So several weeks ago we received a batch of Cornish Curry sauces. As you can imagine, as the area is better known for its Rick Stein fish dishes and pasties, we were sceptical at first. But how wrong were we?

The sauces were delicious and the three taste testers gave them a unanimous thumbs up.

The four flavour choices are pretty much what you would expect, Korma, Madras, Rogan Josh and Tikka Masala but whereas many off-the-shelf products leave you disappointed these were well flavoured and gave an easy way to prepare a quick, enjoyable meal (30 minutes tops). Ruby June’s say they are handmade and we believe you can see this is the consistency and appearance of the products, they look as good as they taste.

There are some cooking instructions on the company’s website and you appear to be able to buy them online but we couldn’t make this element work – as the site is new this maybe a work in progress.

Overall score – 8.5 / 10

About Ruby June’s

Ruby June’s is a small family run business based near Penzance. The inspiration comes from June Hornby who moved to the area from Leicester where she grew up in “a large, very traditional Punjabi family”.

You can find out more about them on their website www.junesindiankitchen.co.uk

Cornish Food Market

Ruby June’s sauces are also available via the Cornish Food Market at www.cornishfoodmarket.co.uk  a website that offers restaurant quality local products to the general public.

We haven’t tried their second restaurant yet in Knutsford but if it’s anything like the Manchester venue we think you’ll be impressed.

Serving a range of regular and not so regular Indian dishes this is one for the curry officianado as well as the novice. Their website claims Mughal Imperial heritage so they have some big claims to live up to.

Here’s our 60 second guide to Mughli Manchester.

Service – 8 out of 10 – A warm welcome, a very slight confusion with the drinks (there were 8 of us dining) but generally attentive and not manic.

Ambience – 8 out of 10 – the restaurant has been refurbished in the last year or so and is nicely laid out and furnished with a nice modern twist to the decor and menus. The food is served in a variety of interesting containers that make you feel like you’ve gone somewhere a little different rather than simply piled on plates.

Food  - 9 out of 10 – excellent all round with everyone enjoying their starters and main dishes. I had the fish tikka starter which was beautifully flavoured, followed by chicken kulchi which was again top notch. The rest of the party tried a wide range of dishes from the menu and had everything from mild to fiery so a decent mix. The highlight dish was the dhum biryani.

For more information on Mughli visit their website.