London:
Can a British cook
dal tadka or
murg masala to the same taste as any Indian cook? Many British lovers of Indian food certainly can, but now the David Cameron government wants to launch a college to teach Indian cooking to UK citizens so that they get jobs in the 3 billion pounds Indian food industry.
The fact is that many restaurants offering Indian food are closing because of the virtual Home Office ban on hiring cooks from the Indian sub-continent, while there are millions of unemployed Britons, who could be absorbed in restaurants with the right training.
Eric Pickles, the Communities secretary, wants to set up the "curry college" to teach the secrets of Indian cooking.
The college is also intended to be a showpiece of the government's strategy towards integration among communities in Britain.
The proposal, as reported by
The Guardian daily, has evoked mixed reactions some have welcomed the idea, while many think it is something of a joke.
It is yet to be approved by Prime Minister David Cameron. But serious it is, and is in line with the Conservative party's policy to cut immigration numbers in a way that Britain does "not need to attract people to do jobs that could be carried out by British citizens, given the right training and support".
In Pickles' proposal, the "curry college" scheme reportedly falls under the heading of "increasing social mobility".
An early paper for the "integration and tolerance working group", entitled Creating the Conditions for Integration, says: "The Indian restaurant sector has already approached the government to explore how they can be supported to recruit and train British workers.
"Changes must come from the sector but the government will work with them to identify barriers and short-term support".
In 2008, owners of Indian restaurants took to the streets of London to protest against new restrictions on hiring cooks from the Indian sub-continent.
Under the new rules, owners wanting to hire cooks from abroad would need to be paid a high salary, which most cannot afford.
Moreover, such cooks also need to demonstrate a level of English language competency.
Paul Goodman, a former Tory shadow Communities minister, said the "curry college" plan was "very Eric Pickles".
Goodman said: "He [Pickles] has a dream: namely to set up a curry college. It combines border control with foreign cooking. It would both help satisfy the apparently inexhaustible appetite for onion bhajis and prawn biryanis while also providing justification for the squeeze on visas".
Goodman said it was also a reminder of Pickles's long engagement with communities from the Indian subcontinent since his days as the leader of Bradford council.