If you haven't indulged in Indian food, you've missed plenty. Same with Thai, both of which utilize a significant amount of curry. In some dishes you may use curry leaves. In others you may use curry powder, but you cannot substitute one for the other because they are entirely different with very different flavors and different qualities in cooking. In fact, curry powder does not have any component from curry leaves in it. Google "curry leaves" to see a sample. I've made chicken Panang Curry, Yellow Curry vegetables, Red Curry, and Green Curry. The Yellow and Red curries are pretty mild, but the Green curry can damage your tongue, cheeks, teeth, and brain (just kidding). When I lived in Massachusetts I had trouble finding ethnic foods unless I went to Boston for Chinese. There was a great tiny place on Beech Street near the highway exit. But overall, N.E. was pretty bad for ethnic fare, but that was 30 years ago. If you would like to try making some, get my recipe in "favorite recipes". You can shop online for the paste but get the exact one I specified. You'll also need to find some Thai fish sauce. But if you make it exactly according to my recipe, you will LOVE it if there's any hope for you.
Thai curry is my least favourite of all the curries Red Thai or Green Thai, I'm not too crazy over it; I mean, I'd eat it, but, I doubt I'd be buying it frozen or ordering it again anytime soon.
In the UK, it's common place to see pizza toppings like; roast chicken, bbq chicken, balti chicken, tandoori chicken... I had pizza in New Jersey, they looked at me weird and said 'ew' when I ordered chicken on my pizza.. Different country I guess... Couldn't even get chicken on my pizza. There's this pizza franchise in the UK that I thought was weird and out there when they had Peeking Duck Pizza; it's a hoisin sauce base, crispy duck and spring onions and no cheese though last time I ordered one, they gave me a hoisin sauce base, cheese, crispy duck and no spring onions; I liked it even though it was meant to be different according to the menu. Forgive my digression curry fans.
I can't eat curry anymore because it now gives me really bad indigestion in my old age. I used to love it as a younger adult though. It seems to me however that you are putting a mystical slant on food. For me sea salt and ground black pepper are about the only spices I use anymore. I attribute my own health to getting the right amount of sea salt every day -- not too much and not too little -- together with the right portions of meat, carbs, vegies, and fruits, also staying well hydrated with Indian tea (both hot and iced) together with a daily glass of wine with my dinners every day except once per week which is my detox day. I am raised Catholic therefore water is for bathing and baptism not for drinking.
I was about 13 and I tried this Caribbean themed pizza from this pizza place in Norbury; It was too hot I couldn't finish it and it was then when I learned that Caribbeans loved to mess around with spices just like the Asians (like India and China and Thailand and stuff) - I knew Mexico did, kinda, but Jamaica, was news to me. That pizza had spicy peppers on it; I haven't seen it since come to think of it. I had a home made crab curry, that was Caribbean, like home made Guyanese crab curry. -- Only time I had crab I think was in that crab curry. That crab curry wasn't spicy and neither is a lot of Jamaican food. But that said, that pizza was hot and my favourite hot sauce comes from Jamaica.
Well at least @The Rhetoric of Life your post has "curry" in it somewhere. Not necessarily relevant to the O/P but certainly informative and interesting !!
Correct. I have only been to Cozumel and Dry Tortugas which are as close to the Carib as I have ever been. Thank you for asking.
The great thing about curry is that the people who eat it leave more of the real food for the rest of us to enjoy.
Curry is like hot sauce. It totally masks the true flavor of any meat you put it over. You could be eating dog sh!t and with curry on it the dog sh!t would still taste like curry.
I cheat and go to this place that sells all the Chinese and Indian restaurants their sauce. Of course that's the home kitchen size, not industrial;
Slow cooking curry seems to be the best way IMO. Besides lamb I have made it with goat and oxtail. The results are delicious.
Indeed! And it depends a lot on what type of curry you are making. For a quick and easy curry I just brown ground beef and then flavor with curry to taste and serve over rice with veggies. For a light curry I use fish or shrimp and go easy on the curry ingredients so as not to overpower the dish. Then there are slow curries with lamb, etc. Cooking those for 4 to 6 hours and the entire house smells delicious.
I had a theory that Americans called Curry 'Chilli' but IDK, I've never had Chilli; I've had Chilli Con Carne though. I like Tacos, and Burritos.
Chili and curry are not the same thing at all. Chili comes from peppers while curry comes from a variety of different spices that are blended to produce different flavors. And chili tends to vary mostly by intensity of the heat from the peppers. They range from sweet to searing and, if I recall correctly, are the basis for the pepper sprays carried by cops.