Curry

Curry is actually a Tamil (language spoken in South India) word that means coal. Applied to food, it means it is roasted until it turns fairly dark. This is especially true for non-vegetarian dishes. There is Lamb Curry, Chicken Curry, Beef Curry and so on.

English Indian restaurants have developed the Curry to such a level that it has become an integral part of English Cuisine. Incredibly some Indian food is actually exported from the United Kingdom to India and there was an instance of a Englishman asking for a local curry to be sent to Australia.

English curries are generally arranged by strengths that roughly follow the order below in terms of strength (going from mild to very hot indeed):

Korma

Madras

Vindaloo

Phaal

Also England has been the home of two Indian dishes that are now becoming more familiar worldwide, namely Chicken Tikka Massala and the Balti (which is a curry designed to be eaten with a large naan bread).

Various spice mixtures with similar characteristics are selled under the name Curry.

The verb curry is used in Functional programming -- see currying.

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