Curry is a dish with a sauce or gravy seasoned with spices, mainly derived from the interchange of Indian cuisine with European taste in food, starting with the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch and British, and then thoroughly internationalised. Many dishes that would be described as curries in English are found in the native cuisines of countries in Southeast Asia and East Asia.
A first step in the creation of curry was the arrival in India of spicy hot chili peppers, along with other ingredients such as tomatoes and potatoes, part of the Columbian exchange of plants between the Old World and the New World. During the British Raj, Anglo-Indian cuisine developed, leading to Hannah Glasse's 18th century recipe for "currey the India way" in England. Curry was then spread in the 19th century by indentured Indian sugar workers to the Caribbean, and by British traders to Japan. Further exchanges around the world made curry a fully international dish.
Many types of curry exist in different countries. In Southeast Asia, curry often contains a spice paste and coconut milk. In India, the spices are fried in oil or ghee to create a paste; this may be combined with a water-based broth, or sometimes with milk or coconut milk. In China and Korea, curries are based on a commercial curry powder. Curry restaurants outside their native countries often adapt their cuisine to suit local tastes; for instance, Thai restaurants in the West sell red, yellow, and green curries with chili peppers of those colours, often combined with additional spices of the same colours. In Britain, curry has become a national dish, with some types adopted from India, others modified or wholly invented, as with chicken tikka masala, created by British Bangladeshi restaurants in the 20th century.
See also: Kadhi.
The word 'curry' does not occur in any Indian language. Various words with similar sounds, like khari and caril, mean "sauce" in modern usage, but probably meant both a specific blend of spices, and a dish using that blend, when the Portuguese arrived in Goa. The scholar of food culture Lizzie Collingham suggests that the Portuguese heard and adopted the word, resulting eventually in its modern meaning of a dish, often spiced, in a sauce or gravy.[1] Collingham writes that:
'Curry' is "ultimately derived" from some combination of Dravidian words of south Indian languages. One of those words is the Tamil (Tamil: கறி) meaning 'sauce' or 'relish for rice'.[2] [3] Other Dravidian languages, namely Malayalam, Kannada and Kodava, have similar words.[4] Kaṟi is described in a mid-17th century Portuguese cookbook by members of the British East India Company, who were trading with Tamil merchants along the Coromandel Coast of southeast India, becoming known as a "spice blend ... called kari podi or curry powder".[5] The first appearance in its anglicised form (spelt currey) was in Hannah Glasse's 1747 book The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy.[6]
The term "curry" is not derived from the name of the curry tree, although some curries do include curry leaves among many other spices.[7] [8] It is not related, either, to the word cury in The Forme of Cury,[6] a 1390s English cookbook;[9] that term comes from the Middle French word cuire, meaning 'to cook'.[2]
Austronesian merchants in South East Asia traded spices along marine trade routes between South Asia (primarily the ports on the south eastern coast of India and Sri Lanka) and East Asia as far back at 5000 BCE.[10] [11] Archaeological evidence dating to 2600 BCE from Mohenjo-daro suggests the use of mortar and pestle to pound spices including mustard, fennel, cumin, and tamarind pods with which they flavoured food.[12] Black pepper is native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia and has been known to Indian cooking since at least 2000 BCE. The three basic ingredients of the spicy stew were ginger, garlic, and turmeric. Using starch grain analysis, archaeologists identified the residue of these spices in both skeletons and pottery shards from excavations in India, finding that turmeric and ginger were present.[13] [14] Sauces in India before Columbus could contain black pepper or long pepper to provide a little heat, but not chili, so they were not spicy hot by modern standards.[15]
The establishment of the Mughal Empire, in the early 16th century, influenced some curries, especially in the north. Another influence was the establishment of the Portuguese trading centre in Goa in 1510, resulting in the introduction of chili peppers, tomatoes and potatoes to India from the Americas, as a byproduct of the Columbian Exchange.[16] In 1598, an English translation of a Dutch book about travel in the East Indies mentioned a "somewhat sour" broth called Carriel, eaten with rice. The later Dutch word Dutch; Flemish: karie was used in the Dutch East Indies from the 19th century; many Indians had by then migrated to Southeast Asia.
Curry was introduced to English cuisine from Anglo-Indian cooking in the 17th century, as spicy sauces were added to plain boiled and cooked meats. That cuisine was created in the British Raj when British wives or memsahibs instructed Indian cooks on the food they wanted, transforming many dishes in the process. Further, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when there were few British women in India, British men often lived with Indian mistresses, acquiring the local customs, language, and food. Curry was first served in coffee houses in Britain from 1809.[17]
Indian cooks in the 19th century prepared curries for their British masters simplified and adjusted to Anglo-Indian taste. For instance, a quarama from Lucknow contained (among other ingredients) ghee, yoghurt, cream, crushed almonds, cloves, cardamom, and saffron; whereas an 1869 Anglo-Indian quorema or korma, "different in substance as well as name", had no cream, almonds, or saffron, but it added the then-standard British curry spices, namely coriander, ginger, and black peppercorns.[18] Curry, initially understood as "an unfamiliar set of Indian stews and ragouts", had become "a dish in its own right, created for the British in India". Collingham describes the resulting Anglo-Indian cuisine as "eclectic", "pan-Indian", "lacking sophistication", embodying a "passion for garnishes", and forming a "coherent repertoire"; but it was eaten only by the British.
Elsewhere in the 19th century, curry was carried to the Caribbean by Indian indentured workers in the British sugar industry.
Since the mid-20th century, curries of many national styles have become popular far from their origins, and increasingly become part of international fusion cuisine.[19] Alan Davidson writes that curry's worldwide extension is a result of the Indian diaspora and globalisation, starting within the British Empire, and followed by economic migrants who brought Indian cuisine to many countries. In 1886, 咖喱 (Gālí) (Chinese pronunciation of "curry") appeared among the Chinese in Singapore.[20] Malay Chinese people then most likely brought curry to China.
In India, spices are always freshly prepared for use in sauces. Derived from such mixtures (but not containing curry leaves), curry powder is a ready-prepared spice blend first sold by Indian merchants to European colonial traders. This was commercially available from the late 18th century,[21] [22] with brands such as Crosse & Blackwell and Sharwood's persisting to the present.[23] British traders introduced the powder to Meiji era Japan, in the mid-19th century, where it became known as Japanese curry.[24]
There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in traditional cuisine depends on regional cultural traditions and personal preferences.[25] Such dishes have names such as dopiaza and rogan josh that refer to their ingredients, spicing, and cooking methods. Outside the Indian subcontinent, a curry is a dish from Southeast Asia which uses coconut milk and spice pastes, and is commonly eaten over rice.[26] Curries may contain fish, meat, poultry, or shellfish, either alone or in combination with vegetables. Others are vegetarian. A masala mixture is a combination of dried or dry-roasted spices commonly homemade for some curries.[25]
Dry curries are cooked using small amounts of liquid, which is allowed to evaporate, leaving the other ingredients coated with the spice mixture. Wet curries contain significant amounts of sauce or gravy based on broth, coconut cream or coconut milk, dairy cream or yogurt, or legume purée, sautéed crushed onion, or tomato purée.[25] Curry powder, a commercially prepared mixture of spices marketed in the West, was first exported to Britain in the 18th century when Indian merchants sold a concoction of spices, similar to garam masala, to the British East India Company returning to Britain.[25]
| Type of variation | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mild ↔ Hot | Korma (aromatic spices) | Madras (chili) | |
| Watery ↔ Creamy | Rogan josh (broth) | Korma (yoghurt or cream) | |
| Dry ↔ Wet | Tikka (skewered meat, spices) | Tikka masala (tomato, cream) | |
| Sour ↔ Sweet | Dopiaza (onion, lemon) | Pasanda (almonds, sugar) | |
| Stir-fry ↔ Simmer | Balti (oil, onion, potato) | Dhansak (lentils, spices, tomato) |
See main article: Curry in the United Kingdom.
Curry is very popular in the United Kingdom, with a curry house in nearly every town.[27] [28] Such is its popularity that it has frequently been called its "adopted national dish".[29] It was estimated that in 2016 there were 12,000 curry houses, employing 100,000 people and with annual combined sales of approximately £4.2 billion.[30] The food offered is cooked to British taste, but with increasing demand for authentic Indian styles.[31] In 2001, chicken tikka masala was described by the British foreign secretary Robin Cook as "a true British national dish, not only because it is the most popular, but because it is a perfect illustration of the way Britain absorbs and adapts external influences."[32] Its origin is not certain, but many sources attribute it to British Asians; some cite Glasgow as the city of origin.[33] [34] [35] It may derive from butter chicken, popular in the north of India.[36]
Curries in Britain are derived partly from India and partly from invention in local Indian restaurants. They vary from mildly-spiced to extremely hot, with names that are to an extent standardised across the country, but are often unknown in India.[37]
| style="width: 120px;" | --> | Strength | Example | Place of origin | Date of origin | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mild | Mughal court, North India | 16th century | Mild, creamy; may have almond, coconut, or fruit | |||
| Medium | British Bangladeshi restaurants | 1970s | Red, spicy with chili powder | |||
| Hot | British Bangladeshi restaurants | 1970s | Very spicy with chili peppers and potatoes | |||
| Extreme | 20th century | High-strength chili pepper e.g. scotch bonnet, habanero |
Many Indian dishes are spicy. The spices chosen for a dish are freshly ground and then fried in hot oil or ghee to create a paste.[38] The content of the dish and style of preparation vary by region. The sauces are made with spices including black pepper, cardamom, chili peppers, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, fennel seed, mustard seed, and turmeric. As many as 15 spices may be used for a meat curry. The spices are sometimes fried whole, sometimes roasted, sometimes ground and mixed into a paste. The sauces are eaten with steamed rice or idli rice cakes in south India,[39] and breads such as chapatis, roti, and naan in the north.[40] The popular rogan josh, for example, from Kashmiri cuisine, is a wet dish of lamb with a red gravy coloured by Kashmiri chillies and an extract of the red flowers of the cockscomb plant (mawal).[41] Rice and curry is the staple dish of Sri Lanka.[42]
Japanese curry is usually eaten as Japanese: karē raisu – curry, rice, and often pickled vegetables, served on the same plate and eaten with a spoon, a common lunchtime canteen dish. It is less spicy and seasoned than Indian and Southeast Asian curries, being more of a thick stew than a curry. British people brought curry from the Indian colony back to Britain[43] and introduced it to Japan during the Meiji period (1868 to 1912), after Japan ended its policy of national self-isolation (Japanese: [[sakoku]]), and curry in Japan was categorised as a Western dish.[44] Its spread across the country is attributed to its use in the Japanese Army and Navy which adopted it extensively as convenient field and naval canteen cooking, allowing even conscripts from the remotest countryside to experience the dish. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force traditionally have curry every Friday for lunch and many ships have their own recipes.[45] The standard Japanese curry contains onions, carrots, potatoes, and sometimes celery, and a meat that is cooked in a large pot. Sometimes grated apples or honey are added for additional sweetness and other vegetables are sometimes used instead.[46]
Curry spread to other regions of Asia. Curry powder is added to some dishes in the southern part of China. The curry powder sold in Chinese grocery stores is similar to Madras curry powder, but with the addition of star anise and cinnamon.[47] The former Portuguese colony of Macau has its own culinary traditions and curry dishes, including Galinha à portuguesa ("Portuguese-style chicken") and curry crab. Portuguese sauce is a sauce flavoured with curry and thickened with coconut milk.[48]
Curry was popularized in Korean cuisine when Ottogi entered the Korean food industry with an imported curry powder in 1969.[49] [50] Korean curry powder contains spices including cardamom, chili, cinnamon, and turmeric.[51] Curry tteokbokki is made of tteok (rice cakes), eomuk (fish cakes), eggs, vegetables, and gochujang, fermented red chili paste. As in India, chilis were brought to Korea by European traders. Spicy chili sauce then replaced the soy sauce formerly used in tteokbokki.[52]
In Burmese cuisine, curries are broadly called hin. Burmese curries contains meat simmered in a curry paste containing onion, garlic, shrimp paste, tomato, and turmeric. Burmese curries are often mild, without chili, and somewhat oily.[53] [54]
Thai curries are called Thai: gaeng, and usually consist of meat, fish or vegetables in a sauce based on a paste made from chilies, onions or shallots, garlic, and shrimp paste.[55] A few stir-fried Thai dishes use Thai: phong kari, an Indian style curry powder.[56] In the West, Thai curries are often colour-coded green, yellow, and red, with green usually the mildest, red the hottest. Green curry is flavoured with green chili, coriander, kaffir lime, and basil; yellow, with yellow chili and turmeric; and red, with red chili.[57]
Malaysian Indian cuisine adapted curries (such as Burmese: gulai, with coconut milk) via the region's Indian population,[58] but it has become a staple among the Malay and Chinese populations there. Malaysian curries have many varieties, but are often flavoured with cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, coconut milk, shallots, chili peppers, and garlic.[59]
Indian Indonesian cuisine consists of adaptations of authentic dishes from India, as well as original creations inspired by the diverse food culture of Indonesia. Curry in Indonesian is kari and in Javanese, kare. In Indonesian cuisine especially in Bandung, there is a dish called lontong kari, a combined of lontong and beef yellow curry soup.[60] In Javanese cuisine, kare rajungan, blue swimmer crab curry has become a delicacy of Tuban Regency, East Java.[61] Rendang, the national dish of Indonesia, originally from Minang, is drier and contains mostly meat and more coconut milk than a conventional Malaysian curry; it was mentioned in Malay literature in the 1550s by Hikayat Amir Hamzah.[62]
In Vietnamese cuisine, influenced by both Thai and Indian cooking, curry is known as cà ri. It is made with coconut milk, Madras curry powder with plenty of turmeric, and a variety of fresh ingredients such as coriander, lemongrass, and ginger.[63]
In the Philippines, a dish that may have been directly inspired by Indian curries is the oxtail stew Filipino; Pilipino: [[kare-kare]], possibly influenced by Sepoy expatriates during the brief British occupation of Manila (1762–1764), or indirectly via Southeast Asian spicy dishes.[64] Filipino; Pilipino: [[Ginataan]] are native dishes using coconut milk,[65] [66] which as in the case of Filipino chicken curry can be called 'curries' when curry powder is added.[67]
Curry spread to South Africa with the migration of people from the Indian subcontinent to the region in the colonial era. African curries, Cape Malay curries and Natal curries include the traditional Natal curry, the Durban curry, Bunny chow, and roti rolls. South African curries appear to have been created in both KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, while others developed across the country over the late 20th and early 21st centuries to include ekasi, coloured, and Afrikaner varieties.[68] Durban has the largest population of Indians outside of India in the world.[69] Bunny chow or a "set", a South African standard, consists of either lamb, chicken or bean curry poured into a tunnelled-out loaf of bread to be eaten with one's fingers by dipping pieces of the bread into it.[68] [69] 'Bunny chow' means 'Indian food', from Banian, an Indian. The method of serving the curry was created because apartheid forbade black people from eating in Indian restaurants; the loaves could speedily be taken away and eaten in the street.