On 21 Mar 2012 13:50:01 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>On 2012-03-21, Janet > wrote:
>
>> Indian cooks don't use a single curry powder; every housewife and cook
>> has a masala collection of different spices/seeds etc and grinds and
>> prepares different combinations for different tastes according to what
>> she's cooking.Just like any other huge continent, Indian cookery varies
>> hugely by region and culture so depending which region the cook comes
>> from, curry dishes might be very mild and delicate or fiercely hot.
>
>Correctamundo, Janet!
>
>Essentially, a curry is a dish, much like an etouffe or a stew is a
>dish. There are as many as there are spice/meat/veggie combos. The
>Brits popularized the concept of it being a spice after they Indians
>kicked 'em out and the ex-colonizers got their housekeepers to make up
>a batch of "that spice" to carry back to merry old England.
>
>Like all good things, curries didn't stay put. It's no accident
>there are Chinese curries, Thai curries, Tibetan curries, etc. And
>the term may not have traveled well, but the concept certainly did.
>Like I said, the Moroccan spice blend (ras el hanout) I recently made
>up and the dish I used it in may be named a tagine, but it's as much a
>curry as anything I've ever prepared or eaten. Probably more so cuz I
>made the blend up from freshly ground whole spices. A textbook case
>of an Indian masala in a curry dish.
>
>http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/masala
>
>nb

There is also a plant called curry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry_Tree

further confusing the concept of a curry dish!

;-)

John Kuthe...