Curry is the English description of any of a general variety of spicy dishes, best-known in Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Nepali, Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai, Chinese and other South Asian and Southeast Asian cuisines, though curry has been adopted into all of the mainstream cuisines of the Asia-Pacific region. Along with tea, curry is one of the few dishes or drinks that is truly "Pan-Asian", but specifically, its roots come from India. The concept of curry was later brought to the West by British colonialists in India from the 18th century. Dishes that are often classified as curries in Europe and America are rarely considered curries in their native countries.
Curry is eaten in almost all part of the Indian Sub-Continent and outside, namely India Bangladesh and Pakistan, it has its varying degrees of style, taste and aroma, depending on local ingredients used. Bengalis of Sylheti origin makeup only 10% of all South Asians in Britain however around 90% of all Indian restaurants in the UK and Northern Ireland are Sylheti/ Bengali owned displaying the preference British and western customers have for food of that region.
The term curry is most likely an anglicized name for Kari derived from the usage of "Kari" in the South Indian languages to connotate some of the secondary dishes eaten with rice. In addition, curry leaves, known as karivepaku in Telugu, karibevu in Kannada, kariveppila in Malyalam and 'Karuvapillai' in Tamil literally means black/dark leaf, and is used in various kinds of dishes common in South India. The term is now used more broadly, especially in the Western world, to refer to almost any spiced, sauce-based dishes cooked in various south and southeast Asian styles. Though each curry has a specific name, generically any wet side dish made out of vegetable and/or meat is historically referred to as a 'curry'- especially those yellow, Indian-inspired powders and sauces with high proportions of turmeric. The dishes are given specific names that indicate the meat and/or vegetable, method of cooking, or the particular spices used. Not all curries are made from curry powder; in India the word curry is heavily used in the southern part of India in languages like Tamil which is analogous to "sabji" in the north. The spice mixes are called as "masala" in the south and Garam masala in Hindi and Nepali. Most dishes involving lentils or dried beans are called dal in the north, or are referred to by a name specific to the spices used in the preparation. There is a particular north Indian and Pakistani dish which is given the name kadi and utilizes yoghurt, ghee, and besan. In Northern India and Pakistan, the word "curry" usually means "gravy," likely because it sounds similar to the word "tari" (which means "gravy" in many North Indian and Pakistani languages and comes from root Tur which means wet in Urdu/Frasi). Bengali dishes called "Torkari" or vegetables stewed/dry in gravy is another potential source for the anglicized "curry" since the British occupation of India started in Bengal before Madras. Another theory is the root word for curry is "Kadhi" which derives from the term "Kadhna" meaning "to simmer" or "Karahi" denoting the cooking vessel used in Indian kitchens.
Why are "Chillies" not called "Hotties?"
In British cuisine, the word curry was primarily used to denote a sauce-based dish flavoured with curry powder or a paste made from the powder and oils. However, the resurgence of interest in food preparation in the UK in recent years has led to much more use of fresh spices such as ginger and garlic, and preparation of an initial masala from freshly ground dried spices, though pastes and powders are still frequently used for convenience.
The first curry recipe in Britain appeared in The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse in 1747. The first edition of her book used only pepper and coriander seeds for seasoning of 'currey'. By the fourth edition of the book other relatively common ingredients of turmeric and ginger were used. The use of hot spices was not mentioned, which reflected the limited use of chili in India — chili plants had only been introduced into India around late 15th century and at that time was only popular in southern India. Many curry recipes are contained in 19th century cookbooks such as those of Charles Elme Francatelli and Mrs Beeton. In Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, a recipe for curry powder is given that contains coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, cayenne, mustard, ginger, allspice and fenugreek; although she notes that it is more economical to purchase the powder at 'any respectable shop'.
The popularity of curry in the general public was enhanced by the invention of 'Coronation chicken' to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Curry sauce (or curry gravy) is a British use of curry as a condiment, usually served warm with traditional British fast food dishes such as chips. Curry sauce occasionally would include sultanas.
The popularity of curry in the UK encouraged the growth of Indian restaurants. Until the early 1970s more than three quarters of Indian restaurants in Britain were identified as being owned and run by people of Bengali origin. Most were run by migrants from East Pakistan, which became Bangladesh in 1971. Bangladeshi restaurateurs overwhelmingly come from the northern district of Sylhet. Until 1998, as many as 85% of curry restaurants in the UK were Bangladeshi restaurants but in 2003 this figure declined to just over 65%. Currently the dominance of Bangladeshi restaurants is generally declining in some parts of London and the further north one travels. In Glasgow there are more restaurants of Punjabi origin than any other.
Regardless of the ethnic origin of a restaurant's ownership, the menu will often be influenced by the wider Indian subcontinent (sometimes including Nepalese dishes), and sometimes cuisines from further afield (such as Persian dishes). Some British variations on Indian food are now being exported from the UK to India. British-style curry restaurants are also popular in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
In a relatively short space of time curry has become an integral part of British cuisine, so much so that, since the late 1990s, Chicken Tikka Masala has been commonly referred to as the "British national dish". It is now available (albeit in frozen, microwavable form) on Intercity rail trains, as a flavour for crisps, and even as a pizza topping.
The British Curry House
Curry is eaten in almost all part of the Indian
Sub-Continent and outside, namely India Bangladesh and Pakistan, it has its
varying degrees of style, taste and aroma, depending on local ingredients used.
Bengalis of Sylheti origin makeup only 10% of all South Asians in Britain however
around 90% of all Indian restaurants in the UK and Northern Ireland are Sylheti/
Bengali owned displaying the preference British and western customers have for
food of that region.
Bengalis in the UK settled in big cities with industrial employment. In London Bengali's settled in the East End. For centuries the East End has been the first port of call for many immigrants working in the docks and shipping from east Bengal. Their regular stopover paved the way for food/curry outlets to be opened up catering for an all male workforce as family migration and settlement took place some decades later. Humble beginnings such as this gave birth to the famous curry capital of the UK - Brick Lane.
Many British people regard "going for a curry" as a satisfying outing. Restaurants that are regarded as curry houses are open to the same standards requirements as all restaurants and can be vetted by and reported to the local Health and safety department of an area. There are now many up-market "Indian Restaurants", which, while they still tend to eschew the more authentic cuisines, nonetheless apply the same high standards of food preparation.
This cuisine is characterized by the use of a common base for all the sauces to which spices are added when individual dishes are prepared. The standard "feedstock" is usually a sautéed mixture of onion, tomato, garlic and fresh ginger, to which various spices are added, depending on the recipe, but which may include: cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, chillies, peppercorns, cumin and mustard seeds. Ground coriander seed is widely used as a thickening agent, and turmeric is added for colour and its digestive qualities.
Better-quality restaurants will normally make up new sauces on a daily basis, using fresh ingredients wherever possible and grinding their own spices. More modest establishments are more likely to resort to frozen or dried ingredients and pre-packaged spice mixtures.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Curry".
