Dish of today

The first recipe for the dish is believed to have appeared in a British cookbook more than 250 years ago and thanks to our colonial links its popularity continued to grow through the Victorian era and beyond.

But it is really in the last 40 years that it has been taken to the nation's hearts and in some surveys has even outstripped fish and chips as the country's favourite takeaway.

There can be little doubt that Yorkshire has among the best curry houses in the country and it is fitting that this weekend Leeds is hosting the World Curry Festival, which marks curry's official arrival in Britain with the opening of the first restaurant in Westminster at a time two centuries ago when the nation was still fighting Napoleon.

Organisers claim the food is fit for "kings, queens, princes, princesses,

Prime Ministers and Presidents".

There may not be any such illustrious figures in Leeds today and tomorrow but there will be thousands of visitors savouring what

has become a thoroughly British meal, while

retaining exotic flavours

that still hint of sights and sounds from far flung parts of the world.