What is Curry?

One of the most asked questions is "What is curry?" The easy answer is that a curry is a spicy dish cooked in the Indian style with a sauce. But of course there are "curry" dishes, such as bhunas, which don't have a sauce and there are "curries" from such countries as Thailand and Vietnam. Even the origin of the word is in doubt.
Curry Leaves (neem)
'Curry expert' Pat Chapman, asserts that the name was coined by an English mariner called William Hawkins, who, in 1608 was sent to India as a diplomat. His definition of "What is Curry?" holds up today: "Curry consists of meat, fish, fruit or vegetables, cooked with a quantity of bruised spice and turmeric, called masala. A little of this gives a flavour to a large mess of rice."
The question is: did Hawkins hear the word "curry" as a reference to the wok-like cooking pots (karai), the Tamil word for sauce (kari) or the leaves of the neem tree (also kari – now called curry leaves)? We will probably never know.
Karai
What we call Curry, varies enormously, even in India.
The Indian Sub-Continent is vast and has hundreds of cooking styles. Before Independence and Partition in 1948, the country consisted of over 600 semi-independent states ruled over by Hindu maharajas and Muslim nawabs (under the general control of the British-run government), as well as large areas directly governed by the British Raj. Fifteen major languages were spoken – plus hundreds of minor languages – and the people belonged to five major faiths, most of which forbade the eating of certain foods.
Pre-independence India, which includes the current nations of Pakistan and Bangladesh, is far larger than Europe and, just as France, Italy and Germany have their own languages and very different cuisines, so it is in the Indian Sub-Continent. The modern states of India were defined largely through language and so each state has a different culture, history, language and styles of cooking.
The dosas and appams of Kerala are a world removed from the thick and hearty curries of the Punjab as are the mustard-laden fish dishes of Bengal from the yoghurt-enhanced curries of Kashmir. And yet all come under the title of "curries".
There is no grand tradition of fine dining out of the home in India. Good restaurants are a very recent phenomenon. High-class Hindus – much of the elite who are potential restaurant customers – ensured that their own kitchens had a high standard of ritual cleanliness and so were unlikely to want to venture out into the world and eat foof from kitchens they could not vouch for, It is only in the last 20-30 years that this has changed. Even so, the best food in India can be found in private homes.
Most of what westerners think of as "curry" does not exist anywhere on the Indian sub-continent. Meat Madras is unknown in India, chicken tikka masala was created in Glasgow and a vindaloo in India is a pork dish enriched with vinegar, with not a potato in sight. Even the word "curry" is frowned on in some circles.
The Curry Secret Blog explores the best of Indian food and curries in general. We bring you the best recipes for anything to do with curries. That includes Curry Chicken, Thai Curry, Thai Chicken Curry,
Indian Chicken Recipes. We have Korma Recipes, Fish Curry Recipes, Red Curry Recipes, Tandoori Chicken Recipes and even Khana Khazana Recipes.
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