Odishatv Bureau
London: The jalfrezi -- a hot curry with green chillies, peppers, onion and tomatoes -- has emerged as the most popular choice in UK`s 10,000-odd Indian restaurants, piping chicken tikka masala as the nation`s favourite dish.

According to a new poll, the jalfrezi is the most popular dish in Britain`s Indian restaurants; the second most popular was the madras, another hot dish that contains large amounts of chilli powder; followed by rogan josh, an aromatic Kashmiri dish traditionally made with lamb and red chillies.

Chicken tikka masala only makes it into eighth place, according to the poll by `Chaat!`, the in-house magazine of the British Curry Club.

Of the 1,058 people surveyed, 21 per cent voted for the jalfrezi and 18 per cent the madras. Rogan josh came third with 11pc. The korma, a creamy dish known for its lack of heat, could only manage 10th place with just two per cent of votes, `The Daily Telegraph` reported.

Dave Jenkins, the editor of Chaat!, said: "It`s really interesting to see that jalfrezi has topped the list. Being a spice lover myself, I think this is great news. People have been depending on the milder curries for too long now, so it`s great to see some more adventurous dishes topping the list."

Gulam Noon of St John`s Wood, who was responsible for selling readymade curries to British supermarkets in the 1980s, said he was not surprised by the latest findings.

"People`s taste buds have changed. It is not only Asian food but Italian, Mexican and Malaysian too. Restaurants used to dole out insipid curries. No longer. Also people are used to hot curries now," he said.

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