Dave Smith wrote:
> Marc <marccnm@ wrote:
> > Can I use one for the other. *I have red, yellow and green Thai curry and I
> > want to use them up.
>
> If you don't know the difference, it should not be a problem. They may
> lack some authenticity, but if you have not had the real deal it should
> just be an interesting experience for you. *I confess to using whatever
> curry paste or powder I have on hand. The results are pleasant enough
> for me. It might be different if I had had a lot of Indian food and knew
> that it was different.

Exactly! There is no one curry powder or for that matter curry
recipe... there are as many different curry spice blends and curry
recipes as there are cooks who cook curry... that applies equally to
Thai, Indian and what passes for curry in the US and elsewhere. As
with all cuisines there are regional similarities but that's where it
ends... to discuss Indian/Thai cooking with specificity is analogous
to a discussion on Chinese/Korean cooking with specificity. In fact
curry is so nonspecific that it's not a legitimate cuisine... curry is
anything slopped together... just that curry sounds more appetizing
than slop is all. In India curry is the word they use to indicate
slop... I can hear some Indian teens complaining; Maa-aaah, it's been
three days in a row already... do we gotta eat that friggin' curry
(slop) again... how come dad doesn't have to eat curry (slop)? It's
his poker night and he's eating house special rotisserie with his beer
buddies. Hey, anyone seen CyberSpot lately, haven't seen that bitch
mutt all week. hehe

curry
From the southern Indian word kari , meaning "sauce," comes this catch-
all term that is used to refer to any number of hot, spicy, gravy-
based dishes of East Indian origin. CURRY POWDER is an integral
ingredient in all curries.

curry powder
Widely used in Indian cooking, authentic Indian curry powder is
freshly ground each day and can vary dramatically depending on the
region and the cook. Curry powder is actually a pulverized blend of up
to 20 spices, herbs and seeds. Among those most commonly used are
cardamom, chiles, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, fennel seed,
fenugreek, mace, nutmeg, red and black pepper, poppy and sesame seeds,
saffron, tamarind and turmeric (the latter is what gives curried
dishes their characteristic yellow color). Commercial curry powder
(which bears little resemblance to the freshly ground blends of
southern India) comes in two basic styles — standard, and the hotter
of the two, "Madras."

© Copyright Barron's Educational Services, Inc. 1995 based on THE FOOD
LOVER'S COMPANION, 2nd edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst.