London School of Curry to Spice Up Job Opportunities?

New rules in place demand sufficient points for immigrants to satisfy the visa service that they can make a positive contribution to the UK. This will mean that chefs coming in from South Asia not only have to be great cooks, but should also be high earners, speak good English and possess formal qualifications.

Squeezed by the new rules, caterers and restaurants serving Indian food in Britain say they need a specialized curry college to save an industry facing "catastrophe". The industry says government funding is essential to set up the college, which would offer diplomas in curry-making to around 1,200 students annually.

"If we are not allowed to bring people from outside, then what we are saying is please help us train people locally," says Sheikh Aklaq Ahmed of the Bangladesh Caterers' Association.

Indian Restaurants are firmly entrenched in British cuisine and there are reportedly now more than 10,000 in the UK although 21st century décor and ambience are different from the days when Auf Wiedersehen Pet's Oz declaimed curry as being the national British dish! Modern Indian restaurateurs have exchanged lager, chicken tikka masala (actually an Anglo-Bangla creation, concocted for English palates by some of the first curry house owners in England) and flock wallpaper in favour of designer dining rooms and posh cuisine. A couple of them even have Michelin stars.

Sake Deen Mahomed, an Indian who had married an Irishwoman, opened the first Indian restaurant, the Hindustani Coffee House in London, 200 years ago this year.  In its early days, it was distinctly upmarket. Edward VIII frequently dined there when he was Prince of Wales, and, the night after the boats from India berthed at the London docks, there was always an influx of maharajahs.

In the current credit crunch however, takeaways are more popular than ever and as ‘staying in is the new going out' what better way to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Indian food in Britain than by ordering up your favourite curry and sharing an evening of fun and friendship with Bingolore.com - don't forget you can play team bingo with 3 friends for great weekly and monthly prizes on offer for the team and indvidual players.