London’s Veeraswamy restaurant: carrying curry afar

This week brings us news of two Madras-London connections that will soon cease to exist. The first is the British Council Library. The second is the Michelin-starred Veeraswamy in London. The 100-year-old restaurant – for it was in 1926 that it opened – was an icon for Indian cuisine.

The centenarian’s demise is not because of a drop in popularity but owing to the lease of its premises expiring. The Crown Estate, which owns the property, does not want to renew it, and a petition is being put together to be presented to King Charles. Veeraswamy’s only hope, at present, is that it stands as an example of British-Indian ties.

That led me to dig into its provenance. Veeraswamy, I always assumed, was a cook from Madras, who went to England and set up business. But that was not the case. It was founded by Edward Palmer, who promoted Veerasawmy (that was the original, and colonial spelling) & Co. in 1896 chiefly to export curry powder to the U.K., which was sold under the brand name Nizam. That was because the Palmers, as a family, had much to do with Hyderabad. General William Palmer was the progenitor – he, having served Warren Hastings as his confidential secretary and then risen high in the military and the administration. That was in the 18^th century. Palmer married a bibi from Oudh, Faiz Baksh (there are doubtful claims that she was of royal descent), and the son born of this union was John Palmer, who promoted Palmer & Co., which in the 19^th century made a fortune out of indigo and then lost it all in several shady deals.

Succeeding Palmers took on bibis, all Muslim, and Edward Palmer, the promoter of Veerasawmy, too, was probably born of one such union. Legend has it that the firm’s name was taken from that of his mother’s ancestors but that is most unlikely, given that Veerasawmy is a Hindu name. It was probably inspired from the typical names of Madras household help. The best-selling Notes from Madras, a cookbook written by Col. Kenney Herbert in 1878 and published by Higginbothams, for instance, uses Ramasawmy as the name for all Indian cooks!

Veerasawmy was, therefore, more of a marketing ploy – and it seems to have worked. Edward Palmer, whose father was an Agent of the Bank of Madras, left for England late in the 1800s and set up Veerasawmy & Co. The curry powder business was a success, and in 1924, he was invited to be advisor, Indian catering, to the Indian Government, at the British Empire Exhibition held at Webley. That led to the restaurant Veerasawmy’s in 1926. And almost the first dish on the menu was Madras Chicken Curry and Rice. What is of greater interest is the cookbook that Palmer wrote.

Titled Indian Cookery, For Use in All Countries, the book, published by Herbert Joseph Limited, credits the author as E.P. Veerasawmy! It is very clear that Edward Palmer had made the brand name part of his own identity. The preface has him claiming that he was fascinated with cooking from young and though he was sent to England to study medicine, he gave it up to focus on food. The book is dedicated to Palmer’s (unnamed) mother, who he writes was the greatest exponent of Indian cooking.

Was she from Madras, or at least Tamil? A perusal of the book would make you think so. The glossary of terms makes careful mention of Tamil equivalents such as yellumshika (lime), pullee (tamarind), tyre (curd), and thainga (coconut). He terms boiled rice as choroo. None of these words could have been known outside of Madras city or at most, the Presidency. He notes that Madras is particularly famous for puppadums. And then there is the plethora of dishes whose names are prefixed with Madras – prawn pilau, lamb pilau, chicken pilau, mutton (aatu) curry, and beef (madoo) curry – just to give you a few examples. The page on vudday (vadai) has it that Madras is famed for it, and it is seldom made at home. Hindus, he says, make it and hawk it on the streets just as crumpets and muffins are sold in England. The recipe for vudday begins with oolunthoo.

What is common to all the Madras dishes is the liberal use of curry paste, which brings us to the way that condiment was synonymous with this city for the colonial palate. Venkatachellums was already a renowned name from here in the same line and it would appear that Veerasawmy’s was a rival. When Palmer gave up the curry powder business and focused on just the restaurant is not clear. Even by 1930, he seems to have sold his interest in the restaurant and retired, becoming a lecturer on Indian food at various places. He died in 1947.

(Sriram V. is a writer and historian)