What is the composition of curry?

The curry is a mixture of several spices. The term curry is a deformation by the English of the term "kari" in Tamil which means sauce. Originally from Southern India, there are already traces of it in the Indus valley over 2000 years before J.C. The first printed recipe for a curry was published in 1747 by Hannah Glasse, an English cook From the 18th century, a cooking book author. It consisted mainly of pepper and coriander. The 4th edition of his recipe introduced turmeric and ginger. He was called "Currey". In 1780, we saw the first curry powder appeared marketed in England. In the middle of the 19th ^{th century increasingly culinary authors offer varieties of curry in their recipes. This even becomes iconic references in England to which evocative names are attributed: Tandoori, Curry de Madras, Curry de Bombai, etc ...}

Camellia Panjabi, great ambassador for Indian cuisine dishes, "99 % of Indians do not have a tandoor (terracotta oven) and therefore neither the Tandoori chicken nor the Naan are part of the class of the class Indian average. This is even the case in Pendjab, although some villages have municipal tandors where the rotis can be cooked. Eighty-five percent of the Indians do not know what a Vindaloo, a Jhal Farezi or, besides, a Curry of Madras ".

Certainly curry powder is in all the states of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and all of Southeast Asia but each family has its own mixtures and recipes. There is not a single curry but countless curry according to their origin and use.

In Europe, curry is objected according to their composition, the availability of products and a geographic origin. For example, the Madras curry (Tamil Nadu's city of India, called Chennai today) is not used in India, the term was invented by restaurateurs in England. Sometimes confusion is installed in Masala and Curry. A Masala ( मसाला in Hindi) is a mixture of spices like curry. So we designate the same thing.

The curry then extended to 19 ^{th century to the Caribbean by Indian workers in the British sugar industry. He finally spread to the United States and then in the Western world at 20 th century, becoming a reference in spice mixtures, because easy to use and taste >}

is the curry a spice?

No, it's a mixture of spices. But two plants nevertheless come close to it and evoke the curry:

A variety of immortelle: the Immortelle d'Argent ( Helichryrysum Italicum ) whose flowers and leaves recall the curry. And the Kaloupilé ( Murraya Koenigii ) is a tree which we use the leaves that have an odor evoking the curry. We then speak of kari or curry leaves. They are widely used in Asia, particularly in India, Vietnam and Thailand. They are also found in Reunion or Mauritius.

What is the composition of a curry? What are the spices that make it up?

The curry is therefore a mixture of different crushed spices. There are no standardized recipes to make a curry powder. Curry is a taste creation, aromatic expression a mixture of spices, it can be done either even or a craftsman offers it.

There is a classic base in most curry: turmeric, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, cloves, nutmeg, pepper. The turmeric always comes into significant proportion and gives the characteristic yellow color of the curry. The red color is given by the addition of pepper or paprika.

This spice base is a universal basis of currys that are found in other similar mixtures (Colombo, Ras El Hanout, etc.). Depending on the variants we will add chili, cardamom, mustard seeds, tamarin, fennel, etc.

The curry spice will be based on the three fire spices that we add: pepper, pepper and ginger.

How to make a homemade curry?

You can test yourself the production of a scented and floral curry, whose recipe and ingredients here are:

(Each spice must be ground)

• 3 teaspoons of turmeric
• 2 teaspoons of cumin
• 2 teaspoons of coriander
• 2 teaspoons of paprika
• 1 teaspoon of ginger
• 1 teaspoon of fenugreek
• 1 teaspoon of mustard
• 1 Ceylon cinnamon teaspoon
• ½ teaspoon of fennel
• ½ teaspoon of cardamom

Ideally, you can roast spices, they gain in flavors. This step is to grill dry spices in a pan for a few minutes.

Kitchen side:

Curry, as often for spices, needs a vector of diffusion of its flavors. The fatty substances are these vectors and propagate the whole flavor of a spice. It is therefore advisable to use a curry in infusion with a meat broth, cream, coconut milk, sauces, oil or butter. Put it at the start of your preparation and if necessary rectify according to your taste at the end of cooking with curry again or turmeric, ginger, pepper and or chili! It accompanies meats, fish or vegetables very well.

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