Indian restaurant menus explained: Which curry is the hottest and which dish is the mildest?
INDIAN food has become one of the UK's most popular cuisines, but can you handle your spice?
Find out which curries are so hot they will keep you sweating.
Which curry is the hottest?
Phaal, Vindaloo and Madras are some of the hottest curries around.
Phaal is a British Asian Indian curry dish, which originated in Indian restaurants in Birmingham and is one of the hottest curries available, even hotter than the vindaloo, using a large number of ground standard chilli peppers, or a hotter type of chillies such as scotch bonnet or habanero.
Typically, the dish is a tomato-based thick curry and includes ginger and optionally fennel seeds.
Madras' served in restaurants can vary in spice and are usually hot or very hot, red or brown, a hotter version of a plain curry or quite rich in tomatoes.
It is seen as a standard hot curry. Vindaloo, in many restaurants, is seen as a pumped-up version of a madras.
Which curry is the mildest?
Korma and Pasanda are two of the mildest dishes available in most Indian restaurants.
The former usually contains ground almonds, coconut and thick cream.
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It is often described as being very mild but a good korma should not be bland.
Pasanda is very similar to korma as it also contains ground almonds and cream but is seen to be milder in flavour.
What is the most popular Indian dish in Britain?
The most popular Indian dish of all time is the Chicken Tikka Masala which ranks in the mid spice range.
The nation lives for the dish which means many seek perfection.
Chicken tikka pieces should be aromatic and slightly smoky from the tandoor.
The masala sauce should be well spiced but not hot, rich and creamy and have a hint of coconut.
Tikka masala usually has a deep red colour, gained from the use of artificial food colourings.
