what exactly is in a curry??

Question

i'm from the US, and i read books by english authors and often times characters eat curry...yet i still don't know exactly what curry is....

any help would be great!

thanks UK answers!

Answer 1

Lots of different things.
To get a vague idea, think of a really thick stew with a kick like a Chilli.
This is only a vague Idea, you can get watery curries, dry curries, creamy curries. Meat, veg, or combination.
The hotness can be very mild, to blow you socks off and make your tongue jump out of your mouth and into a jug of lager hot.

Answer 2

Curry is a name applied in ignorance to the highly spiced foods of Asia.

Every Asian dish has it's own name, just as western dishes do.

The finest 'curry ' dished are made from fresh spices which the cook adjusts to their own taste, curry powder is a poor substitute for the real thing.

So called curry dishes may be dry fried or cooked in a sauce.

There is very little in the way of fish, meat or veg that will not make a good curry. The skill lies with the cook.

When I lived in Sri Lanka we had curry every week, as many as 18 different dishes at one meal. I still cook this fabulous food to this day 50 years after leaving Sri lanka.

Go to an Indian resturant and try a meal there. Generally the food will not be as good as homecooked, but it will give you an idea as to what it could be.

Answer 3

Good ol' Wikipedia.



Definition and History of Curry

definition of curry
a brief history of curry


My question is just "what is curry?"
Just! It's the hardest question of all to answer.

If you take a look at all the different products on a typical British supermarket shelf with "curry" in their name you'd probably be forgiven for thinking that curry was just something that contained spices. Indeed, many people would define curry as a spicy dish from India. Yet the word "curry" is not used as such in any of the scores of languages from the Indian sub-continent.

The following is posting from the Chile-Heads mailing list which, I think, neatly sums up what a curry is (or rather isn't). The author is Brent Thompson who is highly knowledgeable on the subject and has lived in India. He wrote :

"the term curry itself isn't really used in India, except as a term appropriated by the British to generically categorize a large set of different soup/stew preparations ubiquitous in India and nearly always containing ginger, garlic, onion, turmeric, chile, and oil (except in communities which eat neither onion or garlic, of course) and which must have seemed all the same to the British, being all yellow/red, oily, spicy/aromatic, and too pungent to taste anyway"

In the west, curry is now usually characterised by the type of curries popularised by restaurants. My definition of a restaurant curry would be :

"A dish made with dried and fresh spices cooked in oil with a sauce made from pureed onions, garlic and ginger. The variety of spices used can be extensive but the commonest are chilli, cumin, coriander and turmeric. Other common ingredients are yoghurt, cream and ground nuts."

Answer 4

Curry is the finest food on earth.I can eat curry everyday and never get bored of it.It's a style of food,as there are so many varieties of curry. Predominently Indian but also Thai,Chinese and versions made for the the British public.Chicken Tikka Masala being invented in Britain in Indian curry houses.I've got to thank the Indian nation for inventing the most wonderful food in the world.VIVA CURRY!

Answer 5

Curry is now an international dish recognised the world over. It is a dish with gravy (or is a stew like dish) and had many spices and seasonings and is flavoured with hot and sour tastes.

Curry may or may not be made with curry powder. Curry powder available in the supermarket is not a single spice but a blend of spice. Curries are made with many many spice blends. Some curry powder ingredients are: black pepper, chile pepper, cloves, coriander, fenugreek, cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, ginger tumeric and nutmeg. You can mix your own curry powder according to your tastes or buy it ready mixed in the spice aisle of your grocery store.

The classic Indian curry often combines the following spices, coriander, turmeric, fenugreek, cloves, ginger, red and black pepper as well as other spices. One popular variety of spice blend used in Indian curries is called "Garam Masala".

A ‘dry’ curry simply means that there is less liquid involved in the cooking process than you would normally associate with a curry.

Although Curry is not an Indian word - it has come to represent the varied dishes that are stew like or a soupy. These dishes are cooked in steps with the following seasonings which are called masalas
1. A base of spices sautéed in ghee or oil
2. herbs and seasonings like curry leaves or fenugreek may also be added
3. A secondary level of seasonings are added and include all or some of the following – a mixture of onion, garlic, ginger, and tomatoes
4. A third level may include coconut milk, almonds, cashews or cream
5. All curries have a sour taste which may be achieved with lime juice, tamarind, mango powder, kokum or yogurt

Answer 6

A curry is any of a great variety of distinctively spiced dishes, best-known in Indian, Thai and other South Asian cuisines, but curry has been adopted into all of the mainstream cuisines of the Asia-Pacific area. Along with tea, curry is one of the few dishes or drinks that is truly "pan-Asian", but specifically, its roots come from India. Curry was later brought to the West by British colonialists in India from the 18th century.

Answer 7

Curry is an Asian version of Chilli, and probably occupies the same sort of literary niche.
It can be very haute cuisine or really fast food and basic.
"Curry Houses" are Indian Restaurants where it is possible to get a tasty spicy meal at a reasonable price.
For recipes just type in "Curry" and you will get loads of recipes.
The essential ingredient of curry is a spicy sauce.
The exact spices used depend on the recipe and its country of origin.

Answer 8

Curry, traditionally is a dish of anything which has been treated by spices for the longer keepings.
Startins in the countries where day is hot and night is hot also, when refrigerations were not avaliable let alone electric city, to keep meats & things fresh and friggid.
Unlike my wife who has not been fresh for years, as they begin to "turn" ans JUST start to smell they can be cooked severely by treating vith herbies spices and cooked very hot and thoroughly, as with cat or tortoises.
Having been mixed skillfully with cardomom pods & seeds, turmeric , ginger, sage, star anneise etc disguises the tast.
Cooking thoroughly @ high temps guarentees the consumer will not be ill.
Unfortunatly not all curry chefsa are so diiligaf dilligent as to continue with the thoroughly & hot practise, resulting in Gangee's Revenge.
XX JOEY XX

Answer 9

Curry: as used in India, this simply means "sauce"; Indian foods made with sauces are thus all "curries"

Curry Powder: a originated from India, it is a readily-available blend of spices which is a Western approximation of Indian spice blends, and typically contains turmeric, coriander, chillies, cumin, mustard, ginger, fenugreek, garlic, cloves, salt, and any number of other spices Today, curry is categorized as mild, hot, and very hot

Answer 10

curry is gorgeous, my mate went to america and had a curry there but they dont make it like they do in england.
to understand a curry, come to england with a mate and do a tour trying out all the different flavours of curry on the menu, balti,through to a phall if you can.