Most people associate Indian food with the words curry or curry powder. The problem is not with what is commonly known as curry but the problem most people have is with curry powder. This difference, however, is not very well understood by most (even knowledgeable westerners). To an Indian the word curry means an entrée than has some kind of sauce. Where as most common western perception about the word curry is it is some form of spice. For example when an Indian says chicken curry it implies a chicken entrée that has sauce in it. It really does not have any implication of what kind of sauce or what kind of spices was used to make the entrée. However the word curry powder means a specific spice as we have described above. It is very common for people unfamiliar with the nuances and subtleties of Indian Cuisine to use curry powder to make some kind of curry entrée which typically tastes, shall we say, not very good. Our educated guess is that curry powder alone has turned more people off Indian food than anything else. We believe that curry powder has a foul odor and a foul taste. No self-respecting Indian chef would be caught dead using curry powder in their food! Unfortunately, many Americans unfamiliar with Indian cuisine try to prepare Indian food by simply adding curry powder as the primary, if not the only ingredient for creating Indian food flavor. Typically, the outcome is a disaster and the end result is that they become completely turned off to Indian food.
Comments