Restaurants

'Indian' food. We think we know what it is – but do we really? The term 'Indian' leads to confusion; most UK Indian restaurants are Bangladeshi-run, but for our culinary purposes 'Indian' refers to the Indian subcontinent which includes Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal – as well as the modern state of India. This special feature celebrates real Indian food coming to London, and coming of age. Things have moved on so much in the last 20 years that the tired gags about flock wallpaper and 'curries' – those curious Anglo-Indian spicy stews that you don't find on the Indian subcontinent – no longer apply. Instead, a whole new wave of chefs and restaurants is at last preparing proper Indian regional dishes, right here in the capital. Feature continues

From Kerala in the south-west, thorans – simple vegetable preparations, similar to stirfries – are made in minutes and served showered with grated coconut. Freshly ground spice pastes, blended with coconut, popped mustard seeds and crackling curry leaves are also classic additions to their famed fish curries. We've even included a couple of Keralite recipes in the magazine.

Tamil Nadu (home state of Chennai, aka Madras), and the state of Karnataka, also in the south, share a common food heritage – they love their rice and enjoy it in some form at every meal. Idlis, light fluffy steamed rice cakes, crisp dosais (pancakes), and tart-withtamarind sambhar (lentil sauce) are perhaps the best-known dishes.

The fiery hot curries of Sri Lanka often feature toasted spice blends with cumin, coriander and fennel seeds. Curries can be thickened with cashew nuts, coconut and sometimes ground rice. It's also the home of fried, hot 'devilled' dishes. South India and Sri Lanka tend to favour rice over wheat- or grainbased staples.

'North Indian' food is a catch-all phrase that vaguely alludes to Punjabi-style dishes, and most people would include dishes from Pakistan, parts of Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh. The style of cooking here depends on religious and cultural factors. North Indian cooking often focuses on gingery, tomatobased masalas. It's a wide region, perhaps best known for its meaty kebabs. Wholesome pulses and a wide range of wheat breads add to its often earthy appeal.

Parsees are a minority immigrant group in India, but have retained their Parsee culinary heritage, which dates back to first-century Iran – expect their cooking styles to marry meaty curries with dried fruits and pulses. They also have a fondness for eggs and have a wide repertoire of recipes. Many Parsees have settled in Gujarat, and for a fuller discussion of Gujarati food, see the magazine.

What really scores is the regal style of cooking from royal palaces. Mughal-style birianis and complex consommé like curries are today readily available in London's finest restaurants.

Why can we now find all these different styles of Indian food? In part it is a result of the British Government's relaxation of visa restrictions for trained chefs in the late 1990s. As Iqbal Wahab , formerly of The Cinnamon Club, points out: 'The improvement seen in restaurants has come primarily from more talent arriving from India, and restaurants employing more chefs trained by catering colleges and five-star hotels.'

London's new batch of Indian chefs are business-savvy and ambitious – Atul Kochhar from Benares, and Vineet Bhatia of Rasoi Vineet Bhatia both trained in India's five-star hotels before coming to London to give Indian cooking a stylish makeover. New-wave chefs are likely to celebrate peasant-style spiced marrows with as much fanfare as their kebabs flecked with gold leaf. From pavements to palaces, regional Indian cooking is here to stay.

A cautionary word about 'authenticity'. No cuisine stands still. London's top Indian chefs, freed from the constraints of hotel kitchens, are getting experimental and creating fusion dishes – we have called this style 'Modern Indian'. Some of these dishes work well – others don't. When asked about trends, restaurateur Kuldeep Singh (who runs Mela, Chowki, 3 Monkeys and Soho Spice) believes that 'the future of London's Indian restaurants lies in showcasing varied regional cooking rather than playing around with flashy fusion fads.' However you look at it, the days of chicken tikka masala could well be numbered.