Curry: a non sequitur (originally an email to a friend)
Curry is a generic term. "Curry Powder" is a mixture of spices that probably have a few spices in common with every other curry powder but the proportions of the ingredients may, and do, vary. The best translation for Curry Powder that I can think of is: "masala mix". A potpourri of masalas - spices. Of course there are common ingredients. But other than the quality of being a mixture of spices used to cook an incredibly varied array of dishes for a billion people who can't agree on a national language -- there is no other unifying trait. The only common trait Indians, or anything Indian, share, is Cricket. The Indian Curry Powder probably shares ingredients with some in Thai cooking too.
The thing to remember is that, in India most authentic kitchens don't have a convenient Curry Powder bottle lying around. What they have is a huge carousel of containers of zillions of different spices that the chef uses in what may seem like an arbitrary, anarchic, karmic, brahmanic, methodless method.
Does all Italian cooking use Basil and Oregano and...?
Curry (without the "powder") has, for better or for worse, come about to mean a sauce which is used for everything from chicken to potatoes. Curry also has the connotation of being spicy, which is just as dubious as the other usages, in my opinion. Indians think of spicy spices as just another spice - a flavor. The intention is not to make something spicy, but to make it flavorful.
(Another debate I have with my other non-Gujarati friends is that Gujaratis use sugar or other sweetners as just another spice - a flavor. All Gujarati food is not sweet, just as all Indian food is not spicy.)
Also, curry powders can vary. There's a curry powder just for "chole" (chickpeas) and another one for "sambhaar" - a type of south-Indian daal. (Is "daal" just as misused as "curry"?) To the undiscerning taste-buds, all Indian food might taste alike - ie. all Indian food has curry - but then they should probably stick to grits and Budlight.
See:
http://www.cuisinecuisine.com/IndianSpices.htm
One often forgets about the "wet curry pastes". Are all chutneys alike?
Curry is a generic term. "Curry Powder" is a mixture of spices that probably have a few spices in common with every other curry powder but the proportions of the ingredients may, and do, vary. The best translation for Curry Powder that I can think of is: "masala mix". A potpourri of masalas - spices. Of course there are common ingredients. But other than the quality of being a mixture of spices used to cook an incredibly varied array of dishes for a billion people who can't agree on a national language -- there is no other unifying trait. The only common trait Indians, or anything Indian, share, is Cricket. The Indian Curry Powder probably shares ingredients with some in Thai cooking too.
The thing to remember is that, in India most authentic kitchens don't have a convenient Curry Powder bottle lying around. What they have is a huge carousel of containers of zillions of different spices that the chef uses in what may seem like an arbitrary, anarchic, karmic, brahmanic, methodless method.
Does all Italian cooking use Basil and Oregano and...?
Curry (without the "powder") has, for better or for worse, come about to mean a sauce which is used for everything from chicken to potatoes. Curry also has the connotation of being spicy, which is just as dubious as the other usages, in my opinion. Indians think of spicy spices as just another spice - a flavor. The intention is not to make something spicy, but to make it flavorful.
(Another debate I have with my other non-Gujarati friends is that Gujaratis use sugar or other sweetners as just another spice - a flavor. All Gujarati food is not sweet, just as all Indian food is not spicy.)
Also, curry powders can vary. There's a curry powder just for "chole" (chickpeas) and another one for "sambhaar" - a type of south-Indian daal. (Is "daal" just as misused as "curry"?) To the undiscerning taste-buds, all Indian food might taste alike - ie. all Indian food has curry - but then they should probably stick to grits and Budlight.
See:
http://www.cuisinecuisine.com/IndianSpices.htm
One often forgets about the "wet curry pastes". Are all chutneys alike?
posted at 3:23 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home