[anuraj]

"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) , Erachi Curry (Beef Curry), Tharavu Curry (Duck Curry) etc. The author is a North Indian oblivious of curry history.

"കറി വെപ്പാനെന്തുള്ളത് കാട്ടിൽ, വിറകിന് മാത്രം മുട്ടില്ലിവിടെ"

[kari veppaanenthullathu kaattil, virakinu maathram muttillivide]

"What is there to make curry in the forest? Only firewood is available here" - Kiraatham Thullal by Kunchan Nambiar, Malayalam poet Circa 1750 AD.

[kizunajp]

As I clarified in another comment, I was trying to make the point that curry is a genre of foods (as your examples illustrate).

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35400253#35400453

[sizzle]

I understood exactly what you meant, no further clarification is needed. Take the parent comment with a grain of salt, it is clearly biased as Kerala might as well be a different country with its unique, southernmost coastal-climate inspired cuisine and dishes not seen in other parts of diverse India.

[anuraj]

Curry refers to vegetable originally and dishes made out of that. Curry Koottu means Masala. We have been using this word from time immemorial.

[whitemary]

With all due respect, you failed at making that point, but now at least your intentions are understood.

[joshuaissac]

> 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

[kelipso]

That etymology might actually be wrong. The kari for blackened, burnt, etc comes from കരി where the r sound is a dental flap type r sound, while the kari for curry comes from കറി where the r sound is the typical r sound. So it's more likely the etymology is from malakkarry, which means vegetables, meaning than kari from the blackened, burnt, etc meaning.

[anuraj]

That etymology is probably wrong. I posit - it comes from 'Kant/rikkuka' means to cut and cook. Kari vs KaRi.

[techaqua]

website is called "one-from-nippon"

op's name is japanese

> The author is a North Indian oblivious of curry history.

[plaguehammer]

Also, in several north Indian languages “tarkari” refers to a vegetable curry.

https://www.google.com/search?q=tarkari

Rash Behari Bose was Bengali, and the Bengali word for curry is “tarkari”.

The “kari” is originally a Dravidian word. More on this here: https://mobile.twitter.com/avtansa/status/132281823254637363...

[tkadur]

> Curry is a South Indian word referring to vegetables originally (Malakkarry means vegetables)

FWIW, Kannada has no such word. ಕರಿಬೇವು ("karibevu") refers specifically to the curry plant and (as far as I know) there is no word "kari" which refers to curries in general.

My parents had always told me that "curry" was, therefore, a generalization and anglicization of various dishes containing curry leaves. But seeing as "kari" is a word in several other South Indian languages, perhaps Kannada is just the odd one out.

[kondu]

You seem to have missed the obvious Tharakaari (the Kannada word for vegetables)?

[user-]

> Now to be clear, India has no such dish as a curry

Shit, gotta go ask my mom what shes been calling curry my whole life then.