Curry powder
is a mixture of spices of widely varying composition based on South
Asian Cuisine. Curry powder, and the contemporary English use of the
word curry are Western inventions and do not reflect any
specific Indian food, though a similar mixture of spices used in north
India is called garam masala but curry powder is actually closer to the
south Indian sambar powder. The word curry is widely believed to be a corruption of the Tamil word kari, variously meaning something like sauce, cooked vegetables or meat.
In
the western world, curry powder mixtures tend to have a fairly
standardized taste, though a great variety of spice mixtures are used in
Indian cuisine.
Curry powder was largely
popularized during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through the
mass export of the condiment to the western table, throughout Europe
and North and South America and through its use in British Army
rations. Curry powder did not become standardized, as many of the
original blends of curry powder were still available throughout the
world. The late 1960s and early 1970s saw a growth of Indian-based food
consumption in the west and internationally. This led to an increase
of Indian Restaurants throughout the world. The tradition of keeping
special blends of curry powder simply became uneconomical, and curry
powder became increasingly standardized outside India.
Indian
cooks often have readier access to a variety of fresh spices than
their foreign counterparts. Some curry cooks will have their own
specific mixtures for different recipes. These are often passed down
from parent to child.
Check out my Chicken Divan recipe it has curry in it and its delicious.
