Zumar rasies the bar to beat the dangers of the 'curry mile'

Beware! Fake Indian curries should carry a health warning.

For super strength vindaloos and phals can actually damage the stomach lining and digestive system.

And some of the worst offenders are in Manchester’s world-famous ‘Curry Mile’ in Rusholme – where old-style curry houses often serve food that’s “like eating broken glass” – says Sale’s Zumar restaurateur Isak Miah.


Isak – who, next year, celebrates 30 years of pioneering genuine Asian cuisine in Sale – denounces Indian restaurants that “don’t serve genuine Asian food but westernised versions that have been invented, given made-up names … and can actually harm you.

“Some phoney hot curries are like eating broken glass,” he warns. “They damage the stomach and the people who cook them are often not qualified, with no experience of the real thing, and they use rubbish ingredients out of jars.”

Sale has more claim to be the UK home of Asian cuisine, says Isak – whose mother taught him how to cook traditional Asian dishes, passed down through generations, in his home town of Sylhet among the tea plantations and tropical forests of north east Bangladesh.

For it was in Sale that Isak opened his first restaurant, at the age of 18 – the Eastern Tandoori on Washway Road. It was there he pioneered home-cooked traditional Asian food and his reputation laid the foundations for Zumar - which he launched on Northenden Road earlier this year.

“I wanted to introduce a different kind of stylish, contemporary, modern Asian restaurant,” says Isak - whose farming family moved to the UK to join his grandfather, a naval officer who had fought in World War ll. Their 50 acres outside Sylhet still produces rice, vegetables, herbs, spices and livestock.

“Someone has to make a stand and move away from old fashioned curry houses that cater for a macho culture of eating the hottest curry possible. I wanted to raise the bar higher than that with a restaurant where chefs mix with customers at their tables and can tailor dishes to individual tastes.
“We don’t use chilli powders and colouring - we use fresh ingredients and grind our own spices. It’s hard work but it’s worth it because you can’t fool people who are growing to know the difference. People who thought they understood Asian dishes tell me they have never tasted food like it in their lives.”

And those who prefer British food are discovering the difference of an eastern style of cooking from Isak and his wife Joriful with their daughters Nazneen, Nazia and Saarah who all help at Zumar.

Meanwhile, on the menu there, customers can still find the first thing that Isak ever learned to cook. The ‘macchi fry’ that he learned from his mother over 40 years ago … and more than 5,000 miles away.


Zumar
23 Northenden Road, Sale, M33 2DH - tel: 0161 973 2200
Open seven days a week - 12 noon to midnight.

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Posted: Wednesday 26th November 2008
ID: 5435 - 259