Curry

23 of Our Finest, Richest Curries

by: Mayukh Sen

February 28, 2017

What does the word “curry” even mean? Curry’s provenance is perplexingly murky, but one way to grapple with this word’s flexibility is to embrace all the different dishes that go by this name.

Curry’s definition is malleable, adaptive to the environment it's in: My mom’s curry is different from my dad’s, and they’re both from the same part of India. And that's to say nothing of the variances between North Indian curry and South Indian curry, which are many shades different from any Massaman curry I’ve had from Thailand, or Japanese kare rice, or South African bunny chow.

Here are some of our finest curry recipes. Though most of them don’t taste anything like the curry I grew up eating at home, they're curries I love as much as I love my mother’s.

Purnima Garg's Eggplant and Tomato Curry

Kabocha Squash & Tofu Curry

Lime Curry

Braised Peanut Chicken Curry with Thai Gremolata

Spicy Cashew Curry

Thai Curry Noodles with Shrimp

Tomato Eggplant Curry with Chile & Lime

Creamy Chicken Curry

Red Curry Chicken Noodle Soup

Thai Summer Yellow Squash Curry

Khao Soi (Northern Thai Coconut-Curry Chicken Soup)

Spicy Chickpea and Sour Tomato Curry with Noodles

5 Bean Curry

Warm Vegetable Curry

Salmon with a Thai Curry Sauce

Slow-Cooker Creamy Chicken & Mint Curry

Tomato Curry Sauce

Curried Lentils with Coconut Milk

Meen Moiley

Japanese Curry

Chickpea Cashew Curry

Andhra Egg Curry (South Indian-Style Egg Curry)

Caramelized Onion, Coconut, and Egg Curry

What's your favorite kind of curry? Let us know in the comments.

Tags:

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

Deneb Zeenat Latif
Panfusine
Whiteantlers
Shalini
Mayukh Sen

Mayukh Sen is a James Beard Award-winning food and culture writer in New York. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, Bon Appetit, and elsewhere. He won a 2018 James Beard Award in Journalism for his profile of Princess Pamela published on Food52.

Popular on Food52

7 Comments

Deneb Z. March 2, 2017

My all time deshi curry will be the Bengali style Murgir Jhol (chicken curry honestly with a thin gravy) with a few pieces of potatoes thrown in. Equally great with plain rice as with roti/paratha. Have you tried the version we make on the other side of Bengal Mayukh?

Mayukh S. March 2, 2017

Of course I have! I LOVE murgir jhol.

Panfusine March 1, 2017

What falls under the term 'curry' (the wet, stews) is categorized as 'Kootu' in South India. 'Kari' is the term used for drier stir fries and sauteed vegetables. Kootus can either be coconut based -- the most well known of them being the 'avial' - or dal based.

Whiteantlers February 28, 2017

I don't know specific names of curries that I enjoy, only that I love this kind of cooking. Delighted to see this article on a damp, pre-spring day. I will look forward to making my house fragrant and my kitchen warm with a few of the recipes here. Thanks for making my day once again. : )

Mayukh S. February 28, 2017

Shalini February 28, 2017

Two of my favourite saucy Indian dishes are Bengali in origin. Maybe you've had them, Mayukh? Doi Maach, (Mustard Fish), and Malai Curry, (Prawns in a Malaysian Coconut Sauce).