Member Spotlight: South Birmingham Curry Club

If there’s one dish people traditionally associate Birmingham with, it’s a curry.

South Birmingham Curry Club hones in on this quite literally with their take on unique Indian-inspired street food. Back before the Coronavirus pandemic in what seems sometimes like a different world to reminisce on, Andy Crawford was working in graphic design and enjoying eating curries far more than making them – we spoke with him to find out what inspired his journey into street food:

Where did you get the idea to blend traditional curry elements with street food dishes?

I’ve been cooking curries since my early teens, growing up we never had takeaways at home and all of the food we had was the usual meat and two veg, deep fried or frozen stuff. So when I started cooking for myself something drew me to intense flavour and something different to what I was used to. I fell in love with curry, particularly Indian, and have been cooking it now for over 30 years. When I started in street food I messed around with different ideas on what kind of food to serve, and soon realised that I should stick with what I’m passionate about otherwise I’d soon lose interest.

We state clearly that our curries and other dishes are not authentic – I don’t want to serve Tikka Masala or a Balti – I prefer to cook from instinct and using my tastebuds to create more unique dishes. I remember some friends and family telling me that curries wouldn’t work because there’re so many great Indian restaurants in the area, but the street food concept is such a different beast that a street food version proved really popular.

What advantages does offering a concise and consistent menu provide?

It’s very important. We make sure we describe each dish in a fun and informative way, this is especially important as we have quite fun and original names for our dishes. For example – one of our most popular dishes is a curry that has a lot of slow roasted garlic so I named it the ‘Vampire Killa’ and I think the name helps to create intrigue and makes it stand out from the crowd. We’ll add a special to the menu from time to time but it’s important to always have a core of signature dishes that regular customers recognise and want to order again and again.

Did lockdown inspire you to start up?

Definitely. I never had any intentions of working in street food before covid. For over 20 years I worked in the design and print industry but it was never my passion, I kind of just fell into it after finishing school and sixth form. I had a good career but I always wanted a lifestyle that was a bit more unstructured and had a better life balance. Working from home during covid meant I had a lot more time on my hands so I decided to start selling curry from my kitchen window at home just for something to do really.

It took off way bigger than I ever imagined and within months I realised that I could take this further. I bought all the kit for a gazebo setup and luckily, immediately started getting bookings from events and street food venues. Digbeth Dining Club booked me for Herbert’s Yard, and that was my second ever gig. It was a huge learning curve but being thrown in the deep end makes you either sink or swim and it forced me to learn very quickly.

In your opinion, what does success look like?

It may be a cliche, but to me success isn’t about money – it’s about life balance. Having the freedom to not have to go into an office 5 days a week at specific times, and being able to go on holidays when I want and manage my own calendar really made me realise what life is all about. Yes, I work very long hours during busy periods but I always make sure I save a weekend off every now and then to spend time with family and friends and unwind. If I didn’t do that I think I’d lose the love for it and want to do something else. Finding that balance between working hard and having downtime has been a challenge but I think I’m getting there.

What’s one cardinal sin when it comes to curries?

Curry is all about balance of flavours and ingredients. If you play it safe and go easy with spices and aromatics the sauce can be bland and uninteresting – especially if it’s kept in a hot hold for hours on end. But too much of a certain ingredient can make the curry bitter or overpowering. It’s getting that balance right that’s key. Sometimes when I’ve finished cooking a batch of curry it feels like somethings missing and the answer is always to add more salt or some butter!

What’s the plan for the future?

I’m quite bad at future planning, I live day-to-day, week-to-week – that’s just how my brain works. But I’ve just built my second set-up to enable us to do more and more events. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of event offers over the past couple of years and I probably have to turn down maybe three quarters of them as I’m already booked. So the second setup will mean we can reach more people, I can give staff more hours and earn more in the process. After that, who knows? I’ve never fancied opening a restaurant so I guess I’ll just keep doing this until my back finally gives way and I can’t any more.

Something you wish you knew before you started up?

There are very few people who work in street food who knew what they were doing when they started. Every trader will have gone through the same issues, doubts and lack of knowledge that you have. I felt like I was completely winging it for at least the first year but you soon realise that everyone is in the same boat. Because of this, 99% of street food traders are happy to help out, share advice and be there when things go wrong. So don’t be afraid to ask for help and advice, we all knew nothing when we started.

Joining NCASS was also a great help to me, paperwork has never been my strong point and to have a service that will pretty much do all of that for you gave me the confidence and time to concentrate on the things that I enjoy most – cooking and serving customers.

One piece of advice you’d give to new caterers?

Buy the best equipment you can afford. For the first year or so I messed around with rubbish, cheap equipment that wasn’t fit for purpose. This caused a lot of stress when things stopped working and wasted a lot of money in upgrading to more suitable gear. With better equipment you’ll bet able to serve quicker and more efficiently and your setup will look more professional to the public.

What inspired your branding and how important is it to stand out?

Having worked in design agencies for most of my working life I’m lucky that I had the skills to create my own branding. I wanted my branding to be colourful and vibrant to represent the cultural diversity of my home city of Birmingham, and to stand out from the crowd. Also, if your set-up looks cool it does make a difference. A plain gazebo with poor, bland branding can definitely put customers off – your branding should be a visual representation of your food and ethos for people who haven’t tried your food yet.

You can find out more about South Birmingham Curry Club and follow their journey here.