Curry

For other uses, see the dish.

An Indian chicken curry

A curry is any of a great variety of distinctively spiced dishes, best-known in Indian and Thai cuisine, but curry has been adopted into all of the mainstream cuisines of the Asia-Pacific area, from Pakistan in the west and even eventually to Japan. Along with tea, curry is one of the few dishes or drinks that is truly "pan-Asian", although its roots are from India. Sandeep Bhateja (Punjabi) the world famous curry chef from Agra, India, is renowned for incorporating various roots into exotic curry dishes.

Curries around the world

The term curry derives from kari, a Tamil word meaning sauce and referring to various kinds of dishes common in South India made with vegetables or meat and usually eaten with rice. The term is used more broadly, especially in the Western Hemisphere, to refer to almost any spiced, sauce-based dishes cooked in various south and southeast Asian styles. This imprecise umbrella term is largely a legacy of the British Raj. In India, the word curry actually refers to anything cooked and eaten with rice. Anything can be made into a curry if it is cooked and spices do not necessarily have to be added to it. There is a common misconception that all curries are made from curry powder or that a certain meat or vegetable is curried; rather, one makes a curry out of these ingredients.

Tamil cuisine

In Tamil cuisine, from which the word originated, curry refers to any dry preparation involving meat or vegetables shallow-fried with dry spices. Curries are named according to what type of food they're made from and then adding the word curry- e.g. potato curry, bean curry, chicken curry or goat curry.

Malayali cuisine

Malayali curries typically use shredded coconut paste or coconut milk, curry leaves, and various spices.

Other Indian cuisine

In other varieties of Indian cuisine, curry is a sauce - sometimes considered a soup - made by stirring yoghurt into a roux of ghee (a type of clarified butter) and besan (chick pea flour). The spices added vary, but usually include turmeric and black mustard seed.

British cuisine

Chicken tikka jalfrezi, pilau rice and a soothing cucumber rhaita, served up at the Aladin restaurant, Brick Lane, London. Warning - this dish contains fresh green chilis, but the yogurt in the rhaita softens the bite. A typical British hybrid, this is a southern Indian dish, cooked in a Bangladeshi restaurant, and adapted to British multi-ethnic tastes. (November 2005)

In British cuisine, the word curry once came solely to denote a sauce-based dish flavoured with curry powder or a paste variant made with the latter and edible oils. However, the resurgence of interest in good food preparation in the UK in recent years has led to much more use of fresh spices such as ginger and garlic, and preparation of an initial masala from freshly ground dried spices, though pastes and powders are still frequently used when convenience is paramount.

It should be noted that the debasement of the 'British curry' as a dish solely made with 'curry powder' (which, before about the 1970s, only meant one thing, a yellow powder, consisting mostly of ground turmeric and chile powder, used to create dishes such as 'Coronation Chicken') is a 20th-century phenomenon as was the ubiquitous inclusion of—for some forgotten reason—sultanas in every so-called curry. But many excellent curry recipes are contained in 19th-century cookbooks such as those of Mrs Beeton, although it is unlikely that—unlike latter-day curries—these were consumed by the British working class of the time.

As a side note, the famous curry sauce (often associated with the city of Liverpool) that is often served warm as a condiment with other dishes such as chips, was actually popularised by Chinese takeaways, not Indian restaurants, and relies heavily on ground ginger for its flavouring.

British curries are often served in Indian restaurants. Until the early 1970s, more than three quarters of Indian restaurants in Britain were identified as being owned and run by those of Pakistani origin. Most of these were run by migrants from East Pakistan, which became Bangladesh in 1971. Until 2003, more then 65% of Indian restaurants in the UK were Bangladeshi restaurants.[1] As of 2005 however, the dominance of Bangladeshi restaurants is generally declining in some parts of London and the further north one travels. The majority in Bradford and Manchester being Pakistani, Kashmiri and North Indian. In Glasgow, there are more restaurants of Punjabi origin than any other. [2]

Whatever the ethnic origin of a restaurant's ownership the menu will nearly always be influenced by the wider Indian subcontinent, and sometimes cuisines from further afield (such as Persian and Nepalese dishes). There have also been British influences; two of the most familiar dishes served in British restaurants, Chicken Tikka Masala and Balti (which is a curry designed to be eaten with a large naan), were invented in the UK (by Bangladeshi chefs). Some British variations on Indian food are now being exported from the UK to India. British-style curry restaurants are also popular in Australia and New Zealand.

In a relatively short space of time, curry has become an integral part of British cuisine, so much so that since the late 1990s, Chicken Tikka Masala has been commonly referred to as the "British national dish". It is now available (albeit in frozen, microwavable form) on Intercity rail trains, as a flavour for crisps, and even as a pizza topping.

British curries are generally arranged by strengths, with the following being commonly found examples of these:

• Korma (mild)
• Rogan Josh (medium)
• Madras (fairly hot)
• Vindaloo (very hot)
• Phaal (very very hot)

Other dishes may be featured with varying strengths, with those of north Indian origin, such as Butter Chicken, tending to be mild, and recipes from the south of India tending to be hotter.

One of the largest concentrations of Indian restaurants outside the Indian subcontinent can be found on the "Curry Mile" in Rusholme, Manchester. Brick Lane in East London is another street that is home to many curry houses.

Thai cuisine

In Thai cuisine, curries are meat, fish or vegetable dishes in a spiced sauce. They use local ingredients such as chilli peppers, lime leaves and coconut milk, and tend to be more aromatic than their Indian counterparts as a result. Curries are often described by colour; red curries use red chillis while green curries use green chillis. Yellow curries are more similar to the Indian kind, with their use of turmeric and cumin.

Malaysian cuisine

Malaysian curries typically use coconut milk and a paste of turmeric, shallots, ginger, belacan (shrimp paste), chilis, and garlic. Tamarind is also often used. All sorts of things are curried in Malaysia, including goat, chicken, shrimp, cuttlefish, fish, fish head, eggplant, eggs, and mixed vegetables.

Rendang is a Malaysian dish that uses curry spices, although it is less watery than a conventional Malaysian curry.

Japanese cuisine

Main article: Japanese curry

Japanese curry (karē in Japanese) is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It is served in three main forms: curry rice, karē udon (thick noodles) and karē-pan (bread). It is usually thicker, sweeter and not as hot as its Indian equivalent.

A wide variety of vegetables and meats are used to make Japanse curry. The basic vegetables are onions, carrots, and potatoes. Sometimes grated apples or honey are added for additional sweetness. For the meat, pork, beef and chicken are the most popular, in order of decreasing popularity. In Tokyo, pork is the most popular meat for curry by far, while in Osaka, beef is the most common. Katsu-karē is a deep-fried pork cutlet in breadcrumbs with curry sauce.

Curry was introduced to Japan during the Meiji era (1869 - 1913), at a time when India was colonised by the British. Because of that, curry in Japan is categorized as Western dish instead of an Asian dish.

Elsewhere

Other countries have their own varieties of curry, well known examples include:

• Bangladesh: Bangladeshi variation popularized in the UK by Bangladeshi immigrants
• Sri Lanka: Rice and curry meals
• Indonesia: Rendangs, meat or chicken curries with thick brown coconut sauce.
• South Africa: Cape malay curries
• Caribbean: Curried goat
• The Philippines: Kare-kare

Cambodia; Hawaii, United States; Burma; Japan; China; Pakistan and Singapore also have their own versions of the dish.

Curry powder is used as an incidental ingredient in other cuisines, including for example a "curry sauce" (sauce au curry, sometimes even au cari) variation of the classic French béchamel.

In Iranian cuisine, a mix called "advieh" is used in many stews and rice dishes. It is similar to some curries. Ingredients in the mix vary, but may include cinnamon, cardamom,cumin, coriander, tumeric, black pepper, cloves, allspice, dried rose petals, and ground ginger.

In Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana curry is a very popular dish among the Indo-Caribbean communities. The indentured servents that were brought over from India by the British, brought this dish, as well as their culture, to the West Indies.

Curry addiction

A number of studies have claimed that the reaction of pain receptors to the hotter ingredients in curries, even a Korma, leads to the body's release of endorphins and combined with the complex sensory reaction to the variety of spices and flavours, a natural high is achieved that causes subsequent cravings, often followed by a desire to move on to hotter curries. Some refer to this as addiction, but other researchers contest the use of the word "addiction" in this instance.[3] Additionally, curry addiction is an example of a colloquial use of the word "addiction" as the medical definition of the word requires continued use despite harmful effects.

Ingredients

Thickeners

• Besan (chickpea/garbanzo flour)
• onions/shallots
• cream
• coconut milk
• yogurt
• nuts

Spices

• allspice
• anise seed
• asafoetida (hing)
• black cumin
• black pepper
• cardamom
• chile peppers (dried red)
• cinnamon
• cloves
• coriander
• cumin seeds
• fennel
• fenugreek seeds
• mace
• mustard seeds
• nigella (kalonji)
• nutmeg
• poppy seeds
• saffron
• turmeric

Sour ingredients

• vinegar
• tamarind
• lime
• amchoor (dried mango powder, also spelled 'amchur'.)

Fresh herbs and spices

• garlic
• ginger
• coriander (cilantro) leaves
• curry leaves
• bay leaves
• kaffir lime leaves
• chillies
• onion

Other

• ghee (clarified butter)

Curry powder

Curry powder, also known as masala powder, is a spice mixture of widely varying composition developed by the British during the Raj as a means of approximating the taste of Indian cuisine at home. Masala refers to spices, and this is the name given to the thick pasty liquid sauce of combined spices and ghee (clarified butter), butter, palm oil or coconut milk. In India, Masala is a spice of its own and is a reddish colored powder added to curries.

Curry leaves

Curry leaves are the young leaves of the curry tree (Chalcas koenigii), a member of the Rutaceae family that grows wild and in gardens all over India. Fresh curry leaves are oval in shape and best used at about 1 inch in length. They have a pungent and bitter smell much like the leaves of a citrus tree. Leaves are typically fried until browned, then cook with the dish. Before serving, the leaves are removed. Leaves are most powerful when fresh, but can be dried and used to less effect.

See also

• List of ethnic slurs, Curry or Curry Muncher as ethnic slurs
• Rice and curry

External links

House Foods Curry