FOOD

There Is No Curry in Indian Food

Blame it on the English language’s inability to find the appropriate words

Is that a stew? A sauce? A broth? Photo by Lai YuChing on Unsplash

The English culinary vocabulary has a few words to describe a savory dish of liquid consistency. It could be a broth, a stew, a sauce or a gravy. The key point of difference here is the viscosity of the liquid. Other words like soup, chowder, puree and stock help to bridge gaps in the thickness continuum.

When applied to Indian food, all these are usually replaced by a catch-all, curry. And that is where the English language butts headlong into the wall of Indian cuisine only to bounce off impotently. English is left sitting on the ground, cradling its cracked skull in despair. Indian cuisine shrugs and goes about its business.

Let me also note here that labeling the food of 1.4 billion people by an all-encompassing word ‘Indian’ is as asinine as bundling everything from Polish to French to Scottish to Scandinavian foods under ‘European’. But for now, let us leave it as it is. It will change.

Okay. Now let’s go back to this word, curry.

You will not see this word in any Indian restaurant menu. Let me amend that. In any self-respecting Indian restaurant menu.