- why does everyone call a dish with spices in it a 'curry'? What is the qualifying factor?
There are very few differences between- eg - Middle Eastern spice dishes & Indian. Yet the ME ones are not 'curries'! Yes, Thai dishes have lemongrass, galangal etc, but 75% is similar? And the US use oregano & 'chilli powder'. So??
Interesting question. All I can do is quote what Madhur Jaffrey has written in her Ultimate Curry Bible:
"....I have designated as a curry any Indian or Indian style dish that has a sauce" which is how British colonialists in India apparently defined it & it has sort of stuck. It is a bit of a catch all name isn't it because in the countries from which these dishes come they are no doubt called by their individual names.
I seem to remember that it's the misprounciation of some Indian word that I can't remember. As usual my memory is being rather elusive!
I am just getting stuck into a book called 'Curry - A bibliography' which is very erudite and traces indian cuising from the Mughals to the Brits. Well worth a read if you're that interested! I am sure I read in M. Jaffrey somewhere that the word is a corruption of 'Karhai' which is the Indian word for the small wok-like cooking or serving dish (like the balti dishes). :P
Aqui ... I was going to say, was it korai ? Don't know time but I love curry in all its forms - hotter the better. Even like curry sauce on chips and you couldn't really distinguish which spices are in there apart from perhaps tumeric to make it that vivd yellow colour.
Hi,
For really excellent curry recipes , try this site
http://www.madgeandgeoffrey.co.uk/
Regards
MikeB
PS But not if you are on a diet, just reading the recipes puts on weight
Those pictures before breakfast, Mike....!! And very lively too!
Maybe this will contribute to our knowledge?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/photo04/curry.jpg
For sites, my favourite is still Mamta.