HAMPSHIRE Indian restaurant owner Kuti Miah is urging customers to question whether they want colouring in their curry.

Diners at his five eateries in and around Southampton have been rejecting his trademark tikka masala after he axed the use of food colourings from his kitchen.

Unused to the natural look of the famous Raj dish, often said to be Britain’s favourite food, diners wondered why it wasn’t a garish bright red or yellow, which is frequently the case and achieved largely through added artificial colourings.

Previous studies have shown many restaurant curries can contain hefty levels of artificial colourings, including tartrazine, sunset yellow and ponceau 4R. Artifical colourings linked to hyperactivity, asthma, and even cancer, have been detected in chicken tikka masala in tests by Trading Standards officers.

Kuti said: “I don’t want any of this in my restaurant but people were complaining that what we were serving wasn’t chicken tikka masala because we don’t put any colour in it. People are used to seeing it being more yellow but ours isn’t.”

Undeterred, he is sticking to his guns on the issue.

“We think colouring is not good in food and not necessary but people are comparing it with tikka masala in other restaurants and think it is not the same thing. It’s not their fault. But we think it’s better for them, safer and more natural without.”