Talk:The Bombay Palace/@comment-3125805-20150430120358

Fanfic author's research notes read (reproduced with permission)

(3) I looked up Indian restaurants in Pasadena, CA, so as to get my facts right. From the look of the menu, I would bet a free dinner to anyone – should I ever find myself in Pasadena, CA – that the Sitar was founded by cooks who served their time in British-Indian eateries, as the menu is so tantalisingly familiar. It has that unique substance Chicken Tikka Masala on the menu, for one thing, a unique Indian curry that has never, ever, seen India, Bangladesh or Pakistan in its life. CTM was devised by Asian cooks in Britain as a "special" to meet the curry needs of the British palate. Essentially it's pieces of Tandoori chicken bound in a sauce which is essentially a curried tomato soup. Legend has it an Asian chef in Glasgow or Birmingham – accounts differ – created it on the spot in response to a customer request for something in a mildly curried tomato sauce. He used a large anonymous tin of catering tomato soup, cream and spices. And a legend was born. It is apparently in the Top Five of Britain's favourite foods.

And, a menu item to make expat Brits in California feel right at home: the Sitar restaurant in Pasadena, CA, does indeed serve balti curry (originated in Birmingham, England). I almost missed it: it appears on the menu as "Butter Curry", which is neatly descriptive of the cholesterol-laden heart-disease inducing Balti. (Meat, vegt and spices stewed in a bath of clarified butter, ghee). As the word "balti" literally means "bucket", this is probably why the name was changed, as Americans are more cautious than we are about the provenance of their restaurant food...

And the Sitar does takeaway kebabs. What is there not to like? Ah, you could feel at home there. If the Sitar Indian Cuisine on 618 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91101, tel. 626-449-5954 and fax : 626-796-0513 ever wishes to offer me a free dinner in return for the plug, I am open to entertaining the idea. Thank you.