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The roots of Japan's Indian curry

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Re: The roots of Japan's Indian curry

#81

Post by joshuaissac »

anuraj wrote: post #46

"Now to be clear, India has no such dish as a curry. No self-respecting Indian restaurant has a "curry" on their menu. They would have a Palak Paneer or a Malai Kofta or a Murgh Makhani - all of which we lump into "curry" - but no "curry" - This is patently wrong. Curry is a South Indian word referring to vegetables originally (Malakkarry means vegetables). Come to Kerala - you have Moru Curry (Butter Milk Curry) , E…

> Curry is a South Indian word referring to vegetables originally

Not exclusively to vegetables. It originally comes from 'kari', meaning 'blackened' or 'burnt', and referred to cooked vegetables and meat.

1. https://www.etymonline.com/word/curry#etymonline_v_491

Re: The roots of Japan's Indian curry

#82

Post by xboxnolifes »

grogenaut wrote: post #68
sho wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> spicy foods here are a) not spicy Ha. Can confirm. Lived there 2 years and while I love the food, as far as I can tell there is no food available anywhere in Japan, at all, that the average south east asian would recognise as even mildly spicy. And outside the home islands I have observed Japanese people reacting hilariously to the actually spicy local food. My favourite was a co-worker who literally collapsed to t…

It took months to convince my family that the extra hot was mildy warm. But also at a wagamamas in London I had them do double extra hot on their hottest dish and could barely tell. I'm American from the Midwest living in Seattle. I refer to many spicy thing like that golden extra spicy as "spicy as katsup"

This is my problem with a lot of spiciness advertising around me (in America). When I order something advertised as "hot" or "very hot", 90% of the time it's either medium/mild at best, or just packed with spicy peppers to the point of just tasting bad.

But it can be hard to communicate to some people when their upper level of spice tolerance is banana peppers.

Re: The roots of Japan's Indian curry

#84

Post by unmole »

dagmx wrote: post #57
unmole wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The only use of the word curry in restaurants is to appeal to British nationals (and anyone they spread their culture to). So, the Curry Points that dot Hyderabad are artefacts of British colonialism? > The generalization into “curry” was one of colonial misinterpretation. Yeah, no. The Telugu kura which is obviously cognate with kari is used to mean, well curry . How about you tone down the misinterpretation and f…

Telugu Kari doesn’t mean curry in the sense that British people understand it. Please actually look up the history of what kari is. The use of curry in Indian restaurants in Hyderabad are an artifact of colonialism. Hyderabad in particular caters a lot to foreign nationals due to the proliferation of the tech sector there. Anyway What curry dishes are they serving there? “Hyderabadi chicken curry”? What is it called…

> Telugu Kari doesn’t mean curry in the sense that British people understand it.

As a native Telugu speaker, I use kura in the same sense as the English curry to refer to a diverse class of dishes.

> look up the history

Here's some history: Hyderabad was never colonized by the British. My grandparents who grew up in Hyderabad State and didn't speak any English used kura in the same sense that I do.

> Hyderabad in particular caters a lot to foreign nationals due to the proliferation of the tech sector there.

You don't have the faintest idea of what you're talking about. The Curry Points I mentioned are little hole-in-the-wall takeaway places that you see in every other street corner. They are almost exclusively patronised by Telugus. Forget foreigners, even migrants from other states usually find the spice levels too high.

> Anyway What curry dishes are they serving there? “Hyderabadi chicken curry”? What is it called natively?

I haven't heard of a distinctive Hyderabadi variant but they obviously serve chiken curry which in Telugu would be called kodi kura. Google Maps is your friend: https://www.google.com/maps/search/curry+point/@17.5057149,7...

Re: The roots of Japan's Indian curry

#85

Post by dagmx »

unmole wrote: post #84
dagmx wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Telugu Kari doesn’t mean curry in the sense that British people understand it. Please actually look up the history of what kari is. The use of curry in Indian restaurants in Hyderabad are an artifact of colonialism. Hyderabad in particular caters a lot to foreign nationals due to the proliferation of the tech sector there. Anyway What curry dishes are they serving there? “Hyderabadi chicken curry”? What is it called…

> Telugu Kari doesn’t mean curry in the sense that British people understand it. As a native Telugu speaker, I use kura in the same sense as the English curry to refer to a diverse class of dishes. > look up the history Here's some history: Hyderabad was never colonized by the British. My grandparents who grew up in Hyderabad State and didn't speak any English used kura in the same sense that I do. > Hyderabad in par…

India was colonized. Whether they specifically colonized an area or not is irrelevant. Indian regions don’t exist in isolation.

Kari in telugu is not the same as curry. The colloquial use of it as such is an artifact of British rule. You dont exist in a bubble.

Kura is not the same as a generic curry. Not all things that are considered a “curry” are Kura or Kari

Re: The roots of Japan's Indian curry

#86

Post by unmole »

j45 wrote: post #77
dagmx wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Telugu Kari doesn’t mean curry in the sense that British people understand it. Please actually look up the history of what kari is. The use of curry in Indian restaurants in Hyderabad are an artifact of colonialism. Hyderabad in particular caters a lot to foreign nationals due to the proliferation of the tech sector there. Anyway What curry dishes are they serving there? “Hyderabadi chicken curry”? What is it called…

Probably just chicken something. Well said.

I assure you, if you ask for chicken curry in any restaurant in Hyderabad, they'll know exactly what you mean. They might not necessarily serve it though.

Re: The roots of Japan's Indian curry

#87

Post by dagmx »

unmole wrote: post #86
j45 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably just chicken something. Well said.

I assure you, if you ask for chicken curry in any restaurant in Hyderabad, they'll know exactly what you mean. They might not necessarily serve it though.

Of course they know it. They don’t exist in a vacuum.

That doesn’t mean the dish is “curry”.

Just like how many Indians will call it Butter Chicken Curry colloquially but the dish is Murgh Makhani.

Re: The roots of Japan's Indian curry

#88

Post by johnwalkr »

sowbug wrote: post #33
rjh29 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two different types of curry. The article/image are about Indian restaurants in Japan, which tend to have a large naan and a few small metal bowls of curry. The one you're talking about is usually known as 'curry rice' (カレーライス) or 'Japanese curry' and has its roots in English beef stew, but with spice powder added. It is eaten over regular sticky white rice, often with a pork or chicken cutlet on top. I personally lo…

Co Co Curry in Japan is my favorite of the second kind. It's easy to come close at home, as dole says, but the restaurant lets you pick the exact spice level, and they always get the rice just right: sticky enough to carve out with a spoon, but still porous enough that it absorbs the curry sauce. Go Go Curry is also worth a visit, and their US franchises are reasonably authentic. But it's a slightly different style:…

Co Co is great in how much you can customize it. I always go for very spicy curry with potatoes and fried chicken on top.

Go Go is funny in that they list the calories of each meal in terms of rice balls. And some are like 10 rice balls! They used to have a world champion curry, limited to a few orders per day per store [1]. 2.5kg!

[1] https://14fourteen.jp/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/b3bb8c6af2d...

Re: The roots of Japan's Indian curry

#89

Post by grogenaut »

xboxnolifes wrote: post #82
grogenaut wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It took months to convince my family that the extra hot was mildy warm. But also at a wagamamas in London I had them do double extra hot on their hottest dish and could barely tell. I'm American from the Midwest living in Seattle. I refer to many spicy thing like that golden extra spicy as "spicy as katsup"

This is my problem with a lot of spiciness advertising around me (in America). When I order something advertised as "hot" or "very hot", 90% of the time it's either medium/mild at best, or just packed with spicy peppers to the point of just tasting bad. But it can be hard to communicate to some people when their upper level of spice tolerance is banana peppers.

I think the UK levels of spice are much lower than the US having been both places. Throw the pineapple chutney that I had at an Indian restaurant Bombay style in London plus summer was quite warm and delicious.

Re: The roots of Japan's Indian curry

#90

Post by unmole »

dagmx wrote: post #85
unmole wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Telugu Kari doesn’t mean curry in the sense that British people understand it. As a native Telugu speaker, I use kura in the same sense as the English curry to refer to a diverse class of dishes. > look up the history Here's some history: Hyderabad was never colonized by the British. My grandparents who grew up in Hyderabad State and didn't speak any English used kura in the same sense that I do. > Hyderabad in par…

India was colonized. Whether they specifically colonized an area or not is irrelevant. Indian regions don’t exist in isolation. Kari in telugu is not the same as curry. The colloquial use of it as such is an artifact of British rule. You dont exist in a bubble. Kura is not the same as a generic curry. Not all things that are considered a “curry” are Kura or Kari

> Indian regions don’t exist in isolation.

Hyderabad existed as a politically and culturally separate entity. The ramifications of these historical distinctions play out in politics to this day. See Telangana statehood for an example.

> Kari in telugu

You keep bringing it up but to the best of my knowledge there's no kari in Telugu.

> The colloquial use of it as such is an artifact of British rule.

Do you have a source that isn't your ass?

> Kura is not the same as a generic curry.

Oh knowledgeable one, please tell me more.

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