Curry is familiar to everyone, but what is it? Curry is a mixture of several spices and powdered herbs. The composition can have different ingredients, but curry petals are always part of the mixture. The composition of curry also differs per country or per region. Curry is an original plant from India. In South India, curry is traditionally eaten with rice. Besides yellow curry, India also has red curry with the red colour coming from red peppers.
Curry is an original plant from India. The Indonesians have taken over the use of the mixture from India and their curry ended up in the Netherlands. Migrants from India and Indonesia then took it to Surinam.
Curry comes from the Tamil word ‘kari’, which means spicy sauce. It is the name of various types of soup-like sauces. These sauces are also called ‘curry’. In South India, curry is traditionally eaten with rice.
The mixture is called ‘masala’ in India. Wet masalas, which we call curry paste, originally come from southern India and dry masalas traditionally come from northern India. Besides yellow curry, India also has red curry with the red colour coming from red peppers. As a rule, the redder, the hotter. The yellow colour comes from turmeric (also called turmeric root), which is always a component of the spice mix.
Generally, curry from hotter areas contains more chili powder, and curry originating from cooler areas contains much milder spices, such as turmeric. Even family traditions may have an effect on the composition and taste of curry.
Curry is mainly used in the so-called curries. You can find these dishes in Asian cuisines, such as Indian, Thai and Pakistani cuisines. There is also a Surinam variety of curry. The taste of curry is best released when fried hot before other ingredients are added.
