Curry flavor

~This collection of spices with endless variations can be made with as many as 30 ingredients.

"Curry is India's greatest contribution to mankind," claims British travel writer Norman Douglas.

A rather audacious assertion when you consider that the country has also given us Buddhism, the Taj Mahal and technicians who can fix your computer from thousands of miles away.

On the other hand, if you love curry as much as I do (I even put curry powder in my pecan pie), you could be forgiven for wondering if Douglas' declaration just might be true. After all, the people who invented curry-like spice combinations are deemed by many -- rightly so in my opinion -- to be the world's first gourmets.

Their invention goes back nearly 5,000 years. Excavations in the ancient cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus Valley in what is now Pakistan have turned up grinding stones as old as 2500 B.C. showing traces of the spices typically used in curries.

The origin of the term "curry" is less apparent. Perhaps the most outlandish explanation of its derivation maintains that its basis is Irish. Supposedly, an Irish sea captain impoverished by gambling sought sustenance from his stable of thoroughbreds, telling people he had been reduced to eating racetrack meat. The Gaelic word for racetrack is "cuirreach," which, according to the story, morphed into curry. Other, more plausible, explanations suggest that the word derives from Indian words such as "karhai," the term for a brass pot in which curried dishes are cooked, or "curryup," a word meaning blackened or crisp-fried.

This curry dish of chicken tikka is served at the Global Cafe in Cape Girardeau with naan bread, bottom, and samosa. (Diane L. Wilson)

Most authorities, however, argue that the word "curry" comes from the British colonial pronunciation of the Indian word "kari," meaning sauce, a word which can also refer to the leaves of the kari plant or to a cooking technique for preparing stir-fried vegetables. According to "The Oxford Companion to Food," the earliest mention of curry in print in English occurred in 1598, just two years before the founding of the British East India Company.

We also have the British to thank for commercial curry powder. Nostalgic for the native food they enjoyed during the British raj, they tried to recreate it once they returned home, but unskilled in the complexity of Indian cooking techniques they instead opted for prepared spice blends which they sprinkled on their dishes, even those of French and English origin. (The British passion for Indian food has not abated since. In fact, in 2001 the late British foreign secretary Robin Cook declared Chicken Tikka Masala, a concoction invented in the UK, the national dish.)

Until fairly recently no self-respecting Indian cook would have ever used commercial curry powder. As Tom Stobart notes in The Cook's Encyclopedia, back in the days when "even the servants had servants," curry spices were freshly ground for each dish and, as food historian Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat observes, every family had its own secret formula. Not anymore. Today Indian cooks are not above resorting to the convenience of prepared curry powder when the dictates of modern life require it. Though no less a gastronome that M.F.K. Fisher condoned their use, purists like Indian cookbook author Dharamjit Singh says curry powders are "anathema to Indian cooking." Perhaps so if standardized off the shelf versions are used ("as predictable in flavor as a Big Mac," says Juel Anderson, who has written a primer on the subject). But if you grind your own, a process not really that difficult, you can tinker with the formula until you get it just right--a sure way to curry the favor of your guests.

Classic Indian Curry Powder

Though a curry powder may contain as many as 30 ingredients, according to noted Indian cooking authority Julie Sahni only three core spices -- coriander, turmeric, and peppe r-- are essential.This recipe, adapted from DeWitt and Pais' A World of Curries, splits the difference with 10.

Ingredients: 6 dried red New Mexican chiles; 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns; 1 teaspoon whole cloves; 1/4 cup cumin seeds; 1/4 cup coriander seeds; 1 tablespoon mustard seeds; 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds; 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds; 1 tablespoon ground turmeric; 1 tablespoon dried powdered curry leaves.

Directions: Roast chiles, peppercorns, cloves, and seeds for 15 minutes at 250 degrees. Watch carefully so that spices do not burn. Grind in a spice mill to a fine powder and add turmeric and powdered curry leaves. Store in an airtight jar. Makes about 1 cup.

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