Indian Takeaway gives 1,000 Free Curries to ‘Unsung Heroes’

One thousand free curries have been given out by an Indian takeaway in Coulsdon, Surrey.

The gesture has been aimed at the “unsung Christmas heroes”.

Bombaylicious gave out nearly 30 kilograms of food to key workers over the festive period, with owner Asad Khan describing the gesture as a way of thanking them for their “tireless efforts” throughout the pandemic.

The meals were served hot and were co-funded by the Surrey End of Life Care Provider, Whitestone Care.

In addition, Bombaylicious offered a further 70kg of free biryani, rogan josh and jalfrezi to homeless people in the community.

Mr Khan explained: “Britain’s keyworkers, care home workers and other selfless individuals on the frontline are the unsung Christmas heroes of every community and their tireless efforts have thus far been ignored and forgotten.

“This was our opportunity to give them something back.”

The gesture comes after the Indian takeaway made headlines in September 2020 for creating a 114-item set menu for those who were self-isolating during the pandemic.

It was a record-breaking set menu, costing £49.99 and with a total of 27 dishes.

The banquet also included six Indian lagers, enough for one big night in or two mildly intoxicated evenings.

The offering meant that people could get their meals without having to leave their homes for 10 days.

Mr Khan said that the meal was only delivered to regular single customers who are unable to maintain their usual curry intake because of self-isolation.

Dishes included chicken tikka, samosas, masala lamb chops, and a specially created dish called Aag Maithyoo Hancock, which translates to “fire Matt Hancock”, a jibe aimed at the health secretary.

At the time, Mr Khan said of his menu: “We suffered greatly with the government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme, which took many of our customers away to nearby restaurants.

“The Aag Maithyoo Hancock will, we hope, enable those regular customers to get the daily curry fix they deserve and crave.”

Like the Indian takeaway, other businesses have been taking steps to help those in need during the pandemic.

In March 2020, the owners of a Cornershop in Scotland created free packages of face masks, anti-bacterial hand gel and cleaning wipes for the elderly.

Asiyah Javed, who runs the shop with her husband Jawad, said that it had cost their business approximately £2,000. Each bag had cost £2 to put together and they had delivered 500 of them.

Ms Javed revealed that they started making donations after meeting an elderly woman in tears. She said at the time:

“On Saturday I was out, and I met an old woman, she was crying because she had been to the supermarket and there was no hand wash.

“We are delivering 30 packages to a care home and we’ve got another couple of hundred in the shop.

“Some people are asking for them to be delivered as they’re old, or disabled, or don’t drive. We are just trying to help people who can’t get out the house.”