Curry is a spicy dish with roots in Indian cuisine, made with meat, fish, or vegetables in a rich sauce. The spice blend, often sold as curry powder or paste, varies by region and includes ingredients such as turmeric, coriander, cumin, and chillies. Curries are popular worldwide, with variations in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Africa, the Caribbean, China, and Japan. Simple curries can be made with curry paste, coconut milk, and a protein source.
Curry is widely eaten throughout Southeast Asia, although it has its roots in Indian cuisine. A curry is any type of spicy dish, usually with meat, fish or vegetables and a rich sauce. The spice blend used to prepare it often comes in a ground form known as curry powder, although it is also sold in paste form, suspended in oil and tamarind paste or other thickeners. This dish is widely consumed around the world, thanks to the delicious taste and the myriad variations used to prepare it.
The word “curry” probably comes from the Tamil word “kari”, which was used to indicate a condiment or sauce for rice. Most Indian curries include turmeric, coriander, cumin, ginger, garlic and chillies, although others also include spices such as cinnamon, cloves and allspice. While spices were traditionally roasted and ground for every meal, many cooks today use packaged spice blends. Pungent spices such as asafoetida are used in South Indian cuisine, while North Indian cuisine favors milder curries.
In Thailand, curry also plays an important culinary role. Most Thai curries include tamarind paste, lime juice, galangal, lemon grass, kaffir lime, garlic, chiles, prawn paste, and coriander roots, which are hotter than the leaves. Thai curries are often cooked in coconut milk, making them a rice and creamy accompaniment to fish, meat and vegetables. These dishes often rely on fresh herbs and vegetables and a short cooking time, so that the vegetables in the dish remain textured and crunchy.
In Malaysia and Indonesia, curries tend to be fired and cooked in coconut milk to mitigate the strong chilli flavour. As well as being spicy, the dishes are often served with a hot chili sauce, for diners who prefer their meals even more intense. Malaysian signature curry includes cumin, coconut, coriander, fennel, red chillies, prawn paste, turmeric, lemongrass, garlic, onion, salt, and walnuts. In Indonesia, curry paste is often made with coconut, soured fish, lime, peanuts, onions, cumin, chillies, nutmeg, cloves, turmeric, ginger, and poppy seeds.
Similar curried or curried dishes are also served in many other parts of the world. African and Caribbean cuisine, for example, both feature spicy dishes in thick sauces. China and Japan also serve curries, which tend to be milder than their Indian counterparts. The powder also has a long history in European cuisine, with France and Britain preparing unique foods with the spice blend. Prepared powders and pastes from around the world are readily available in most markets and are worth experimenting with. For a simple curry, a cook can use curry paste, coconut milk and a protein source of his choice such as chicken, beef or tofu. The protein should be scalded, then add the coconut milk and curry powder, simmer and serve with steamed rice.
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