Memories of Glaswegian curry

Sir,
I found Jill Campbell Mackay’s comments about chicken tikka masala fascinating. Tal Mahal was the original ‘curry house’ in Glasgow, opening in 1954. There had been ‘curry cafes’ in the docks area of Glasgow, catering for the Lascar seamen, but this was the first catering for locals, and was established by a chap who went round the doors selling goods from a suitcase. This restaurant was where I had my first Indian meal in 1964. The restaurant is still there, but is now called Shish Mahal. There is another place in Glasgow now called Taj Mahal, but with no connection with the original. By the way, Glasgow is known as the European Curry Capital because of the very high quality of its Indian restaurants.

Gordon Burns, Strathaven, Scotland

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