In 1810, Hindoostane Coffee House, the first Indian restaurant in the UK, opened its doors in central London. Two hundred years later, our love affair with Indian cuisine shows no sign of abating.
In fact, the 2013 Cobra Good Curry Guide recently revealed that Britons spend an average £20 a month cooking an Indian feast at home, and £31 on their favourite curries while eating out – all amounting to a staggering £30,000 lavished on curry across an average lifetime.
So what exactly is it about the eye-watering, aromatic, heat-inducing Asian cuisine that we love – and clearly crave – so much?
One aspect might be our history.
"I think Indian food is so popular in Britain because when the British were in India, they fell in love with the spices and local cuisine," says Vivek Singh, founder and CEO of The Cinnamon Club and one of the most celebrated chefs of Indian cuisine in the UK. "And when they came back, they wanted to recreate this unique taste. So spices started being imported, along with chefs and cooks who had the culinary knowledge."
There's another simple reason we adore our curry too; chillies. Research suggests that when the body defends itself against the heat of a hot chilli it releases endorphins, the body's natural painkillers. "Spicy meals with chillies can be quite addictive as they release endorphins that make you feel good, and you'll want to go back for a second helping," believes Singh.
Delicious and addictive as they are though, curries have also gained a bad reputation over the years, often being associated with high levels of saturated fat, sugar and salt content – particularly the ever-popular chicken tikka masala, voted as Britain's national dish in 2006.
This doesn't mean all Indian fare is bad for you – far from it. Curries contain many spices which boast a huge range of health-boosting benefits.
For example, some of the popular curry ingredients, like coconut milk and ghee, are often thought of as bad due to its saturated fat content. But Priya Tew, a freelance dietician registered with the Health Professions Council and the British Dietetic Association, believes that a small amount of saturated fat not a bad thing.
"Coconut milk does indeed contain saturated fat, but the fat is made up of shorter chain fatty acids which have been shown to be easier for the body to break down and use and have more health benefits including lowering cholesterol, reducing the risk of heart disease and lowering high blood pressure."
Similarly, chilli powder has a bad reputation, but Zainab Jagot Ahmed, blogger and author of Indian SuperMeals: Baby & Toddler Cookbook, suggests that when eaten in right amounts, chilli has huge health-boosting benefits. "Excess consumption of chilli powder is known to cause stomach ulcers, sweating, and eventually, permanent damage to taste buds," she says. "However in small amounts, chilli powder can actually be brilliant for health as it contains Vitamin A and C which are powerful antioxidants and it has been shown to help lower blood pressure."
Anjum Anand, food writer, TV chef and founder of The Spice Tailor, is another advocate for the power of curries, believing that by choosing the best ingredients, and balancing the flavours, spices and ingredients, we can all benefit from Indian cuisine.
"People's experience of eating Indian food in the west is not a true reflection of the real food we eat at home, which is lighter, fresher and far more well-balanced than what's offered at takeways," says Anand.
She has been following the principles of Ayurveda, an ancient healing wisdom of India, in her cooking for eight years, and the style is now also gaining popularity in the west for its holistic healing and regenerating benefits.
"The Ayurvedic way of eating is not about cuisine, it's about ingredients," explains Anand. "So what you do with those ingredients is what will make the meal delicious but also healthy."