A customer who ordered a mild curry from a local Indian restaurant was horrified to open the takeaway to find the receipt marked – “WHITE PPL”.
Spice-lover Stuart Lynn, 44, spent nearly £30 in Valentine Restaurant and asked for his venison curry to be served mild.
But when he returned home he found a hand-written note on his meal ticket which read: “VERY MILD, WHITE PPL.”
Outraged Stuart believes the note was a slur suggesting white people couldn’t handle a hot curry and has compalined to the restaurant in Southall, west London.
Heathrow Airport supervisor Stuart, of Northolt, said: “I was not happy at all – it said ‘white people’ next to my curry.
“It implies we can’t deal with strong curries. I do like a hot curry sometimes. I just fancied a mild one for a change. I thought it was very rude of them.
“It was the first time I’ve been in there and I won’t be going back.”
Stuart and partner Paula McCready, a 48-year-old carer, said they were put off their dinner by the receipt.
Valentine Restaurant apologised and promised to change its labelling but insisted “ppl” somehow means milk.
Owner Ruby Kandasamy (corr) said: “I have investigated and can confirm it a misunderstanding.
“Under white ppl, we don’t mean white people, but a white sauce made from milk, single cream, coconut milk and spices we add to our dishes when a curry is requested mild.
“‘Ppl’ means ‘milk.’
“However, we have decided to change the way we inform the kitchen and will mention ‘add white ppl’ or ‘with white sauce’ to avoid any confusion with our customers.
“We want to apologize to the customer for any inconvenience and misunderstanding, we hope the curry was nice and he or she will visit us again.”
She refused to explain the origins of the word “ppl” and Stuart was not satisfied with her response.
Dad-of-three Stuart said: “What other colour is milk? I spoke to an Indian friend of mine and ‘ppl’ doesn’t mean milk.
“They’re just trying to get out of it.”
