Post AR1odqdR2jJrqyXbIO by AK0eW1RElysrddpQ1Y.fyrfli@bkgrdclrschm.link
 (DIR) More posts by AK0eW1RElysrddpQ1Y.fyrfli@bkgrdclrschm.link
 (DIR) Post #AR1m0Ih36VCRNoFJ8y by shahaan@eldritch.cafe
       2022-12-27T09:07:38Z
       
       1 likes, 2 repeats
       
       So I was chatting with a friend recently and our conversation brought to my attention something mildly concerning about their understanding of #SouthAsian food.They were telling me about how their mom made curry. When I inquired what kind, they were confused and asked what I meant. And when I tried to explain that there is really no such thing as "curry flavor" it kind of blew their mind.They went to the kitchen and got the packet of curry powder to show me what they meant. Look, curry, they said. Read the ingredients, I said. This was a pivotal moment in their understanding of "Indian" food.The reality is that if you go to an Indian* restaurant and ask for "curry" you'll get a blank stare. That's because there's no such thing as curry. It's not a flavor. It's not a type of sauce or soup base.But look! you say, pointing to the chips aisle where there is bound to be a packet of Curry Lays or the aisle with curry-flavored instant noodles. Yeah, that's the unfortunate result of British colonialist fakery.What?Basically, when the British colonizers came to South Asia and encountered food with actual flavor (ha! :blob_cat_giggle:​ ) they decided to export (read: exploit) it, as they do. So they made up this arbitrary mix of common spices found in a variety of different combinations in foods all over South Asia and labeled it "curry."So what's real?Well, there are a ton of different spices used in foods all over South Asia. Some of the most common ones are turmeric, cinnamon, red chili, cumin, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper, fenugreek, fennel, mustard seeds and cloves.And the specific combination of these spices used in any particular food varies based on the recipe for that unique food.For example, a vegetable biryani (rice) calls for a different combination of spices than aloo channa (potatoes and chickpeas). To put it a different way, you wouldn't add the same combination of herbs and spices to an alfredo pasta sauce as you would to a pizza sauce, right?Not just that, but the recipes for most South Asian foods are themselves subject to regional variation as well. The palak paneer (spinach and cottage cheese) my mom makes tastes very different from the same dish cooked by my sis-in-law. The difference in flavors is the result of my mom being a Parsi from Karachi while my sis-in-law is a Punjabi from Mississauga. There's no single, "correct" or "authentic" recipe!So, next time you see curry-flavored-anything, remember how there's really no such thing. And now you know why!___*Even describing a particular South Asian cuisine as "Indian" is inaccurate and reductive because there are at least as many different types of "Indian" cuisines as there are states in India. It's like calling every East Asian cuisine "Chinese" food. Not to mention that South Asia includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh among others, all of whom have their own unique sets and subsets of foods.
       
 (DIR) Post #AR1odpok5ClnJkp7HU by AK0eW1RElysrddpQ1Y.fyrfli@bkgrdclrschm.link
       2022-12-27T09:26:41.612Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @shahaan@eldritch.cafe And then you have the Caribbean folk whose ancestors brought all their variations from all over the world and commingled with some African and East Asian cuisine and voìla … we have ‘curry’ from Barbados, Trinidad, and Jamaica and they’re all different.
       
 (DIR) Post #AR1odqEyVfkmd764Aa by MightySisserou@blacktwitter.io
       2022-12-27T09:38:00Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @fyrfli @shahaan I was starting to have an existential crisis. 😂
       
 (DIR) Post #AR1odqdR2jJrqyXbIO by AK0eW1RElysrddpQ1Y.fyrfli@bkgrdclrschm.link
       2022-12-27T09:39:17.108Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @MightySisserou@blacktwitter.io @shahaan@eldritch.cafe Because Caribbean curry is a thing? Not only that but it’s a thing that only vaguely resembles the original cuisine?
       
 (DIR) Post #AR1odr1BcQJn2deZJg by shahaan@eldritch.cafe
       2022-12-27T09:47:15Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @fyrfli @MightySisserou Oh! Curry definitely is a thing! It's just very much not what is sold in eu/us grocery stores as some kind of single flavor spice.
       
 (DIR) Post #AR1odrSTyw9WPIQMrY by AK0eW1RElysrddpQ1Y.fyrfli@bkgrdclrschm.link
       2022-12-27T09:49:48.105Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @shahaan@eldritch.cafe @MightySisserou@blacktwitter.io Like lemme tell you about my experience here in the US after I’d migrated and ran out of my Jamaican spices. I found ‘curry’ in a supermarket and decided to give it a try and i was appalled. Like how can you be a self-respecting human being and call that mess ‘curry’?!
       
 (DIR) Post #AR245MdPfxXYEJ6qKO by Moon@shitposter.club
       2022-12-27T12:44:40.687517Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @shahaan foods have regional variation, i had no idea, thanks
       
 (DIR) Post #ARb33uDT4yVtiNz1e4 by s@freesoftwareextremist.com
       2023-01-13T09:48:07.197011Z
       
       2 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @shahaan curry is my favorite japanese food
       
 (DIR) Post #ARd0SxSEGYczS13tA0 by shahaan@eldritch.cafe
       2022-12-27T12:06:49Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       Some clarification about the curry plant and origins of the word.Wikipedia:"Although called "curry plant" and smelling like curry powder, it is not related with this mixture of spices, nor with the curry tree (Murraya koenigii), and is not used as masala for curry dishes either."Encyclopedia Britannica:"curry, from Tamil kari"https://www.britannica.com/topic/curryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helichrysum_italicum