Curry chicken or chicken curry?

I'd call it chicken curry or curried chicken.

why? because that's what I was taught when I studied South Asian cooking about 40 years ago (and what google calls it when I look it up)

since curry, in cooking terms, means any blend of two or more spices , it would be a tiny bit difficult to eat it by itself

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i.e. if you've put salt and pepper in/on your eggs, by strict definition you've got curried eggs. I suppose you could just put salt and pepper on a plate and eat it.

I'll be completely honest, I had no idea what curry was made out of but very good explanation.

I'm trying to make this non-offensive, I hope I have succeeded: Outside America, only ignorant people would say "curry chicken".

You would however, say that chicken curry is made with chicken and a curry sauce. The whole dish (chicken and sauce) is the curry.

I am interested to know where your strict definition comes from, because here's mine: Curry is a dish originating in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent. The common feature is the use of complex combinations of spices or herbs, usually including fresh or dried hot chilies. The use of the term is generally limited to dishes prepared in a sauce.

I guess it depends on the culture/country.

In the U.S. (at least) we say chicken and rice.
In at least some spanish speaking countries, they say arroz con pollo.

Neither is ignorant.

I grew up saying carrots and peas, but apparantly the world outside my family says peas and carrots.

Whatever.

I think I consider it that way too, but I've seen it listed both ways, and I'm a known long time recipe scrounger, first from cookbooks, then after the internet, even more so, including recipes from India and elsewhere far away from my kitchen.

I pretty much don't care. I consider the mix of spices as curry, and the whole dish of a spicy curry (mix) sauce with added featured ingredient such as chicken or fish or whatever, as curry. On the mixes, I presently have 3 commercial curry mixes in my kitchen spice cart, plus a whale of a bottle of turmeric by itself. Yeah, that goes into scrambled eggs, but also much else - say, when I saute diced sweet green peppers in a light layer of oil and whatever spices I feel like adding.

First time I tried a curry (as in a bowl of it) was when a friend and I started an art studio and art gallery, also lived there, in a large space over three business spaces. One of those was an indian restaurant that featured curries. Meantime, to pay our lease money, we took in a theater group (wherein I met my future husband). At some point, business partner/friend and I tried the restaurant below. I flipped with the unbelievable shock, which makes me laugh all these years later.

I'm embarrassed to say that the theater group put on a play (I totally forget the subject/plot) where at one point they had a loud blasting tape of a train racing by. That poor restaurant. I don't remember apologizing, to my shame now. I think I probably didn't know the effect that had until that particular play had passed.

Yes, ehBeth, 40+ years ago.

Quick tuppence worth from a lifelong curry addict.


Perfect curry made simple.


"Simple curry base daag is one of Britain’s most-searched-for recipes according to Google - make a big batch to freeze and use later for a huge array of dishes"......

Much more in these two links.....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/11519550/Daag-curry-base-the-most-useful-curry-recipe-youll-ever-read.html


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/recipes/daag-the-ultimate-curry-base/

I don't want to go off topic, but what about devilled eggs? (Deviled in the USA). Also kidneys, mushrooms, etc. Not necessarily a hot-flavoured filling.

Saved it. Thanks, and I have all those ingredients, except that instead of Kashmiri I've New Mexico chiles and Mexican chillies on my counter.

I've been wondering where you've been for a while.

I can't address devilled eggs, as one of my childhood phobias that remain is actually eating something as wiggly as that.

On use of double l's, I tend to prefer the Brit way (double), but vary, counsellor. Or, councilor.

I have no idea what deviled eggs are - well, I googled it now, but that's typical American. What about kidneys? You mean kidney beans?

According to the online etymological dictionary, curry comes from a Tamil word, kari, which means a sauce or relish for rice. It states that the word entered the English language in 1680. The Portuguese first arrived in India under Vasco da Gama in 1498, and soon established a fort in Goa (they held onto Goa until the latter half of the 20th century). Goa is south of Bombay, or Mumbai as the locals call it. (Bombay is said to be derived from the Portuguese and means a good bay--a dubious derivation; the English mostly just call places whatever the hell they want to call them.)

In 1534, the Portuguese took the islands in the bay north of Goa, one of which they called Bombay, which was probably a careless rendering of Mumbai. In the 17th century, merchants in England urged Oliver Cromwell to buy Bombay from the Portuguese, but he wasn't interested--he had other fish to fry. In 1660, the Stuart monarchy was restored in the person of Charles II. He didn't have any problem getting laid; allegedly, he was very well hung. But like any dutiful dynast, he needed a wife. The English weren't going to endure a French or a Spanish wife, so he turned to their allies of two centuries and married Catherine of Braganza, the daughter of King John IV of Portugal. Part of her dowry was Bombay.

Chili peppers have been cultivated in Mexico for at least 8000 years. "Hot" cuisine became popular, and spread to the islands we call the West Indies. Columbus brought some back as a curiosity, but, apparently, the Europeans weren't all that curious about chilis. (Chili is a word from Nahuatl, the language of the aboriginals of the central plateau of Mexico.) However, Spanish and Portuguese monks were curious, and they cultivated them as an ornamental plant. When Spanish and Portuguese monks took them to the East with them, they apparently told the locals at some point that these were food plants. Eastern cuisine was changed forever. Eventually, chilis were brought back of Europe, Curry is one product of that culinary revolution. The English got Bombay in 1662--i don't know when they got curry take away. The word curry entering the language in 1680 sounds about right.

Talking about what curry is to an American is meaningless. Many (perhaps most) Americans have never heard of curry. They get spicy hot food at the source--Mexico. Thai restaurants are also very popular there. They don't ask about curry, they just want to know if it's hot. I lived for 17 years in Columbus, Ohio, a city with a very large Indian population. There is not a single curry restaurant there, and in the entire time i lived there, no Indian restaurant lasted for more than a few years before closing down. There are, of course, dozens of Thai and Mexican restaurants. If you want hot food in Columbus, that's not going to be a problem.

I love telling stories--and i prefer them to be true, like this one. Those who don't like long stories should avoid my posts.

Deviled just means chopped up. Deviled eggs just means hard-boiled eggs from which the yolk is removed, and then chopped up with pimento, and whatever else the cook wants to inflict you with.

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It's good to see his Lordyship again.

I take it kidney pies are a thing, I am guessing for the British.

I've eaten kidneys cooked by our vietnamese cook friend back in Los Angeles. I wasn't crazy about them, but also didn't hate them.
My favorite dish of his was fresh crab. I'd have to scour my brain or maybe early a2k posts to remember quite what was in the dish.

I love curry, but not as a regular diet. Maybe, twice a year is plenty for me!

All this talk about hot food got to me, so i went out to the kitchen and heated up some pad thai.

You got me thinking I'm wrong re the word chilli and chillies, versus other spelling by other peoples, but I swear I read that, may have or not have links. Maybe I mixed up the mexican spelling and the larger world's spelling.

I'm no mistress of the chilly word.

chill·y

adjective
uncomfortably cool or cold.
"it had turned chilly"
synonyms: cool, cold, crisp, fresh; More
(of a person) feeling cold.
"I felt a bit chilly"
unfriendly.
"a chilly reception"
synonyms: unfriendly, unwelcoming, cold, cool, frosty, gelid

chil·i

noun
a small hot-tasting pod of a variety of capsicum, used chopped (and often dried) in sauces, relishes, and spice powders. There are various forms with pods of differing size, color, and strength of flavor, such as cascabels and jalapeños.
short for chili powder.
short for chili con carne.

The American Heritage Dictionary is the source for both of these definitions.