Curry is a dish with a spicy sauce or dry flavouring,[1] initially inIndian cuisine, then modified by interchange with the Portuguese, followed by the British, and eventually thoroughly internationalised.[2] Many curries are found in the cuisines of countries in Southeast Asia and East Asia.[3]
In medieval India, proto-curries were flavoured with mild spices such asasafoetida,cardamom,coriander,cumin, andginger, with the modest heat ofblack pepper.[4] A definite step in the creation of modern curry was the arrival in India of spicy hotchili peppers, along with other ingredients such as tomatoes and potatoes, part of theColumbian exchange of plants between theOld World and theNew World.[4] The Mughal empire brought new subtly-spiced dishes, especially to the north of India.[4] During theBritish Raj,Anglo-Indian cuisine developed,[5] leading toHannah Glasse's 18th century recipe for "currey the India way" in England.[6] Curry was then spread in the 19th century byindentured Indian sugar workers to the Caribbean,[2] and by British traders to Japan.[7] Further exchanges around the world made curry a fully international dish.[2]
Many types of curry exist in different countries.[1] In Southeast Asia, curry often contains a spice paste andcoconut milk.[3] In India, the spices are fried in oil or ghee to create a paste; this may be combined with a water-basedbroth, or sometimes with milk or coconut milk.[1][8] In China and Korea, curries are based on a commercialcurry powder.[9][10] 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.[11] In Britain, curry is a popular dish with some types adopted from India, others modified or wholly invented, as withchicken tikka masala, created by BritishBangladeshi restaurants in the 20th century.[8]
The English word curry is derived from a Dravidian root, possibly by way of Dutch carrijl, Portuguese caris or caril, or some combination of these. The Dravidian source may beTamilகறிkaṟi,[12][13] ("a spiced mixture with fish, meat or vegetable, eaten with boiled rice"[14]), or a mingled borrowing from multiple Dravidian languages.[15][16] Other Dravidian languages, namelyMalayalam (കറിkari, "hot condiments; meats, vegetables"[17]),Middle Kannada,Kodava, andTelugu have similar words.[15][18]
The term "curry" is not derived from the name of thecurry tree, although some curries do include curry leaves among many other spices.[20][21] The cookery writerPat Chapman noted the similarity of the wordsKarahi orKadai, an Indian cooking dish shaped like awok, without giving evidence.[22] "Curry" is not related to the wordcury inThe Forme of Cury,[6] a 1390s English cookbook;[23] that term comes from the Middle French wordcuire, meaning 'to cook'.[15]
By 1500 BCE, seafaring merchants from Austronesian communities were alreadytrading spices across the ocean. They sailed between South Asia and East Asia, especially the ports along southeastern India and Sri Lanka, creating some of the world's earliest maritime trade networks.[24][25] Archaeological discoveries atMohenjo-daro show that people were usingmortar and pestle to grind spices as early as 2600 BCE. They poundedcumin,fennel,garlic,ginger,mustard, blackpeppercorns,saffron,sesame seed,tamarind pods, andturmeric to create spicy flavourings for their food, which included meat, fish, grains, pulses, and fruits.[26][27] Black pepper is native to theIndian subcontinent and Southeast Asia and has been known toIndian cooking since at least 2000 BCE.[28] The three basic ingredients of the spicy stew wereginger,garlic, andturmeric. 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,[29][30] in what have been called "proto-curries".[30] Sauces in India before Columbus could contain black pepper orlong pepper to provide a little heat, but not chili, so they were notspicy hot by modern standards.[31]
BeforeChristopher Columbus, Indian dishes were sometimes spicy but they were never hot like many modern curries, aschili peppers were absent, along withtomatoes,potatoes,bell peppers andsquashes. The proto-curries of medieval pre-Columbian India were diverse but not much like modern international curries.Sambar, for example, was a dish ofpigeon peas (toor dal) orlentils, flavoured withonions and mild spices.[4] Among the key spices used in the period wasasafoetida (hīng),[4] a foul-smelling gum from plants of the genusFerula.[32][33] Despite its smell, it adds a fine-tastingmeaty flavour when it is fried in oil.[4]
Origin and spread of curry around the world. Mild spices were traded between India and East Asia by 1500 BCE.[24] TheColumbian Exchange brought chili peppers to India; before then, Indian food was not spicy hot.[4] Anglo-Indian food came to Britain in the 17th century.[31] The word "curry" was first recorded in print inHannah Glasse's1747 English cookery book.[15] In the 19th century, curry spread to the Caribbean[34] and to Japan,[7] and from there to Chinese people, starting in Singapore.[35] Further migration and globalisation (not shown) made curry a fully international dish.[2]
The establishment of theMughal Empire, in the early 16th century, brought some new and subtly spiced dishes, especially in the north. TheIndo-PersianMughal cuisine of the emperorAkbar, as described in theAin-i-Akbari, could cookaubergines (eggplants) with asafoetida,cardamom,cloves, coriander,ginger, lime juice, onions, and pepper.[4]Another influence was the establishment of thePortuguese trading centre inGoa in 1510, resulting in the introduction ofchili peppers, tomatoes and potatoes to India from the Americas, as a byproduct of theColumbian Exchange.[4] The food culture scholarLizzie Collingham suggests that the Portuguese in Goa (in West India) heard and adopted words adopted into a local language from the Dravidian words from South India, becomingcaril orcarree as transcribed by British travellers of the time. This eventually led to the modern meaning of "curry" as a dish, often spiced, in a sauce or gravy.[36] In 1598, an English translation of a Dutch book about travel in the East Indies mentioned a "somewhat sour" broth calledCarriel, eaten with rice.[2] The later Dutch wordkarie was used in theDutch East Indies from the 19th century; many Indians had by then migrated to Southeast Asia.[2]
Curry was introduced toEnglish cuisine fromAnglo-Indian cooking in the 17th century, as spicy sauces were added to plain boiled and cooked meats.[5] That cuisine was created in theBritish Raj when British wives or memsahibs instructed Indian cooks on the food they wanted, transforming many dishes in the process.[38] 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.[39] Curry was first served in coffee houses in Britain from 1809.[40]
Indian cooks in the 19th century prepared curries for their British masters simplified and adjusted to Anglo-Indian taste. For instance, aquarama fromLucknow contained (among other ingredients) ghee, yoghurt, cream, crushed almonds, cloves, cardamom, and saffron; whereas an 1869 Anglo-Indianquorema orkorma, "different in substance as well as name",[41] had no cream, almonds, or saffron, but it added the then-standard British curry spices, namely coriander, ginger, and black peppercorns.[41][42] Curry, initially understood as "an unfamiliar set of Indian stews and ragouts",[43] had become "a dish in its own right, created for the British in India".[43] 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.[37] Collingham writes that "The idea of a curry is, in fact, a concept that the Europeans imposed on India's food culture. Indians referred to their different dishes by specific names... But the British lumped all these together under the heading of curry."[5]
Since the mid-20th century, curries of many national styles have become popular far from their origins, and increasingly become part of internationalfusion cuisine.[34]Alan Davidson writes that curry's worldwide extension is a result of theIndian diaspora andglobalisation, starting within the British Empire, and followed by economic migrants who brought Indian cuisine to many countries.[2] In 1886, 咖喱 (Gālí) (Chinese pronunciation of "curry") appeared among the Chinese in Singapore.[35]Malay Chinese people then most likely brought curry to China.[2]
In India, spices are always freshly prepared for use in curries.[44] Derived from such mixtures (but not containing curry leaves[45]),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,[46][47] with brands such asCrosse & Blackwell andSharwood's persisting to the present.[48] Curry powder became a standard item inAnglo-Indian cuisine.[44] British traders introduced the powder toMeiji-era Japan, in the mid-19th century, where it was used to makeJapanese curry, known asカレー,karē.[7][49]
There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in traditional cuisine depends on regional cultural traditions and personal preferences.[1] Such dishes have names such as dopiaza and rogan josh that refer to their ingredients, spicing, and cooking methods.[5] Outside the Indian subcontinent, a curry is a dish from Southeast Asia which usescoconut milk and spice pastes, and is commonly eaten over rice.[3] Curries may contain fish, meat, poultry, or shellfish, either alone or in combination with vegetables. Others are vegetarian. Amasala mixture is a combination of dried or dry-roasted spices commonly homemade for some curries.[1]
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 onbroth,coconut cream or coconut milk, dairycream oryogurt, orlegume purée,sautéed crushed onion, ortomato purée.[1]
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 togaram masala, to the BritishEast India Company returning to Britain.[1] Other commercial mixes includecurry pastes and Japanese-style curry roux (in block or powder form).[50]
Curry is very popular in theUnited Kingdom, with a curry house in nearly every town.[52][53] 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.[54] The food offered is cooked to British taste, but with increasing demand for authentic Indian styles.[55] In 2001,chicken tikka masala was described by the Britishforeign secretaryRobin 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."[51] Its origin is not certain, but many sources attribute it toBritish Asians; some citeGlasgow as the city of origin.[56][57][58] Others suggest that it derives frombutter chicken, popular in the north of India.[59]
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.[8] Zoe Perrett, writing forThe Times of India, comments that anyone expecting traditional Indian cuisine from "Brindian"[60] cuisine, a "Bangla spin on Indian regional dishes, twisted still further to tempt British tastebuds",[60] will be disappointed.[60] Variants like "Kashmir" and "Malaya" curry add fruits like banana, lychees, and pineapple. In short, the food might be, Perrett writes, "not Indian at all."[60] Inexpensive curry kits, containing a packet of whole spices, a packet of spice paste, and a pouch of sauce, are sold in British supermarkets, enabling a curry of "exceptional"[61] quality to be cooked quickly at home.[61]
Spicy Indian dishes were until the late 20th century not called "curry" by Indians: the term was initially limited to Anglo-Indian cuisine. Instead, numerous Indian dishes like dopiaza and rogan josh had their own names; the historian of food Colleen Sen notes that the Indian cookMadhur Jaffrey found theumbrella term 'curry' "degrading to India's great cuisine",[62] but eventually accepted the category in her later writings.[62] Both the names of the dishes and their methods of preparation are often regional.[63]
Indian curry sauces are made with spices including black pepper, cardamom, chili peppers, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, fennel seed, mustard seed, and turmeric.[63] As many as 15 spices may be used for a meat curry.[63] The spices are sometimes fried whole, sometimes roasted, sometimes ground and mixed into a paste.[63][64] The sauces are eaten with steamed rice oridli rice cakes in south India,[63] and breads such aschapatis,roti, andnaan in the north.[65] The popularrogan josh, for example, fromKashmiri cuisine, is a wet dish of lamb with a red gravy coloured by Kashmiri chillies and an extract of the red flowers of thecockscomb plant (mawal).[66] Rice and curry is the staple dish of Sri Lanka.[67]
Japanese curry is usually eaten askarē 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 theIndian colony back to Britain[68] and introduced it to Japan during theMeiji period (1868 to 1912), after Japan ended its policy of national self-isolation (sakoku), and curry in Japan was categorised as aWestern dish.[69] Its spread across the country is attributed to its use in theJapanese Army andNavy which adopted it extensively as convenient field and naval canteen cooking, allowing even conscripts from the remotest countryside to experience the dish. TheJapan Maritime Self-Defense Force traditionally have curry every Friday for lunch and many ships have their own recipes.[70] The standard Japanese curry contains onions, carrots, potatoes, and sometimescelery, and a meat that is cooked in a large pot. Sometimes grated apples orhoney are added for additional sweetness and other vegetables are sometimes used instead.[71]
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 ofstar anise and cinnamon.[9] The former Portuguese colony ofMacau has itsown culinary traditions and curry dishes, includingGalinha à portuguesa ("Portuguese-style chicken") and curry crab.Portuguese sauce is a sauce flavoured with curry and thickened withcoconut milk.[72]
Curry was popularized inKorean cuisine whenOttogi entered the Korean food industry with an imported curry powder in 1969.[73][10] Korean curry powder contains spices including cardamom, chili, cinnamon, and turmeric.[74]Currytteokbokki is made oftteok (rice cakes),eomuk (fish cakes), eggs, vegetables, andgochujang, 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 intteokbokki.[75]
InBurmese cuisine, curries are broadly calledhin.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.[76][77]
Thai curries are calledgaeng, and usually consist of meat, fish or vegetables in a sauce based on a paste made from chilies, onions or shallots, garlic, andshrimp paste.[78] A few stir-fried Thai dishes usephong kari, an Indian style curry powder.[79] 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.[11]
Malaysian Indian cuisine adapted curries (such asgulai, with coconut milk) via the region's Indian population,[80] 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.[81]
InVietnamese cuisine, influenced by both Thai and Indian cooking, curry is known ascà ri.[84] Curry was brought to Vietnam byFrench colonisers, from their Indian outpost atPondicherry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the south of the country in particular, the Vietnamese adopted Madras curry powder andcoconut milk as the basis of dishes such as chickenlemongrass curry,cà ri gà.[85][84]
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 andNatal curries include the traditional Natal curry, the Durban curry,bunny chow, and roti rolls. South African curries appear to have been created in bothKwaZulu-Natal and theWestern Cape, while others developed across the country over the late 20th and early 21st centuries to include ekasi, coloured, andAfrikaner varieties.[90]Durban has the largest population of Indians outside of India in the world.[91] 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.[90][91] 'Bunny chow' means 'Indian food', fromBanian, an Indian. The method of serving the curry was created becauseapartheid forbade black people from eating in Indian restaurants; the loaves could speedily be taken away and eaten in the street.[92]
^Dubey, Krishna Gopal (2010).The Indian Cuisine. PHI Learning. p. 11.ISBN978-81-203-4170-8.Pat Chapman of Curry Club fame offers possibilities:Karahi orKadai from the wok-shaped cooking dish, Kari from Tamil or Turkuri a seasonal sauce or stew.
^"Pegge, Samuel (1780).The Forme of Cury: A Roll of Ancient English Cookery, Compiled, About A.D. 1390, by the Master-Cooks of King Richard II, Presented Afterwards to Queen Elizabeth, by Edward Lord Stafford, and Now in the Possession of Gustavus Brander, Esq.; Illustrated with Notes, and a Copious Index, or Glossary. London: J. Nichols.OCLC13794092.
^Thirty-Five Years' Resident (1869)."Kurma or Quorema Curry".The Indian Cookery Book. Calcutta: Wyman & Co. p. 22.This, without exception, is one of the richest of Hindoostanee curries, but it is quite unsuited to European taste, if made according to the original recipe, of which the following is a [Europeanised] copy:
^"Rogan Josh". In Khan Mohammed Sharief Waza, Khan Mohammed Shafi Waza, and Khan Mohammed Rafiq Waza (2007).Wazwaan: Traditional Kashmiri Cuisine. New Delhi: Roli & Janssen. p. 34.
^Huskey, Brian (2022).Asia: The Ultimate Cookbook (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Asian).Cider Mill Press. pp. 19, 398.
^Bush, Austin (5 December 2012)."Burmese curry restaurants". Austin Bush Photography.Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved7 October 2024.
^DeWitt, Dave (26 May 2014).Precious Cargo: How Foods From the Americas Changed The World. Catapult. p. 300.ISBN978-1-61902-388-8.
![The Indian cook Madhur Jaffrey initially objected to the Anglo-Indian term "curry", but came around to using it.[62]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMadhur-Jaffrey-20101024-IMG_7270.jpg)
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