By Majida Rashid
“The first meal my husband ever made me was a chicken curry. I have never tasted anything so delicious in my life.”
— Lesley Nicol, English actress
Growing up in Pakistan, I only heard words like “saalan” or “tarkari” to refer to a staple chicken, meat, or a vegetable dish cooked at homes or restaurants. The amount of spices and flavors varied depending on the region and from one household to another.
The word “curry” came into my vocabulary only when I intermingled with British people outside of Pakistan. By then I had established myself as somewhat of a good cook! To me, the secret of creating something appealing to the eyes and palate was in the art of mixing and matching spices. I had never owned or even seen any Pakistani using pre-mixed spices resembling curry powder. Imagine my horror when I saw, for the first time, a predominantly yellow-ochre spice mixture, resembling burned turmeric, called curry powder. The fact that cooks dumped this spice to make a dish was unimaginable. The resultant thing neither resembled nor tasted like salaan.
My search about the origin of the word curry — even in Encyclopedia Brittanica — was not fruitful. However, decades later, some curious souls took the matter in their own hands and went around asking about the origin.
Since Pakistan and India were once one country, they share the same oral culture, meaning that certain types of knowledge is transferred through telling a story. Many Pakistani cities have bazaars that existed perhaps before the birth of the current cultures of these countries. Peshawar, the city I lived in growing up, was the gateway to the subcontinent since at least 539 BCE. Of all the bazaars, its famous Qissa Khwani Bazaar (“storytellers market”) is rumored to be the place where travelers in the olden times gathered to share their stories.
According to the storytelling culture, the word curry perhaps came into existence when part of the subcontinent was ruled by Portuguese. At the time, a spiced sauce or black pepper, in one of the local languages, was called kari. Portuguese translated kari into caril and its plural is curree or carie. Then British colonists changed the name to curry. Their curry is nowhere near any subcontinental cuisines, which usually take a lot of effort and time to make.
I learned to make curry or salaan by watching my mother, who was an excellent cook. Whoever ate her food came back to have more, but I, as a child, didn’t like what she cooked. My preference changed over time. After browning the onions in the cooking oil, she added chopped tomatoes, herbs, and spices. Then she cooked them over low heat until the oil separated from the sauce. Meat or vegetables were added next and browned a little before pouring in water.
Countless curry recipes abound, but I will share this basic and easy one to make.
Chicken Curry
(Serves 4-5)
INGREDIENTS:
6-8 tablespoons cooking oil
2 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped
5-6 head garlic cloves
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon each ground coriander and cumin
1/2 - 1 teaspoon red pepper
Salt to taste
1 whole chicken skinned and cut into 12 pieces
2-3 tablespoons chopped coriander
— Lesley Nicol, English actress
Growing up in Pakistan, I only heard words like “saalan” or “tarkari” to refer to a staple chicken, meat, or a vegetable dish cooked at homes or restaurants. The amount of spices and flavors varied depending on the region and from one household to another.
The word “curry” came into my vocabulary only when I intermingled with British people outside of Pakistan. By then I had established myself as somewhat of a good cook! To me, the secret of creating something appealing to the eyes and palate was in the art of mixing and matching spices. I had never owned or even seen any Pakistani using pre-mixed spices resembling curry powder. Imagine my horror when I saw, for the first time, a predominantly yellow-ochre spice mixture, resembling burned turmeric, called curry powder. The fact that cooks dumped this spice to make a dish was unimaginable. The resultant thing neither resembled nor tasted like salaan.
My search about the origin of the word curry — even in Encyclopedia Brittanica — was not fruitful. However, decades later, some curious souls took the matter in their own hands and went around asking about the origin.
Since Pakistan and India were once one country, they share the same oral culture, meaning that certain types of knowledge is transferred through telling a story. Many Pakistani cities have bazaars that existed perhaps before the birth of the current cultures of these countries. Peshawar, the city I lived in growing up, was the gateway to the subcontinent since at least 539 BCE. Of all the bazaars, its famous Qissa Khwani Bazaar (“storytellers market”) is rumored to be the place where travelers in the olden times gathered to share their stories.
According to the storytelling culture, the word curry perhaps came into existence when part of the subcontinent was ruled by Portuguese. At the time, a spiced sauce or black pepper, in one of the local languages, was called kari. Portuguese translated kari into caril and its plural is curree or carie. Then British colonists changed the name to curry. Their curry is nowhere near any subcontinental cuisines, which usually take a lot of effort and time to make.
I learned to make curry or salaan by watching my mother, who was an excellent cook. Whoever ate her food came back to have more, but I, as a child, didn’t like what she cooked. My preference changed over time. After browning the onions in the cooking oil, she added chopped tomatoes, herbs, and spices. Then she cooked them over low heat until the oil separated from the sauce. Meat or vegetables were added next and browned a little before pouring in water.
Countless curry recipes abound, but I will share this basic and easy one to make.
Chicken Curry
(Serves 4-5)
INGREDIENTS:
6-8 tablespoons cooking oil
2 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped
5-6 head garlic cloves
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon each ground coriander and cumin
1/2 - 1 teaspoon red pepper
Salt to taste
1 whole chicken skinned and cut into 12 pieces
2-3 tablespoons chopped coriander
DIRECTIONS:
Heat the oil and brown the onions.
Add the tomatoes, garlic, ginger and the spices.
Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the oil separates out from the tomatoes.
Put the chicken and sauté over medium high heat until it browns. Chicken tends to ooze its juices so it’s important to keep the heat rather on the high side.
Pour in 3 cups of water, stir and bring to a boil.
Lower the heat, cover the pan and cook until the water is reduced and the chicken is tender – about half an hour.
Taste and adjust spices.
Sprinkle half of the coriander.
Cover the pan, cook over low heat for five minutes.
Remove from the heat and transfer onto a serving dish.
Garnish with the remaining coriander.
Serve hot with plain boiled rice or naan.
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Foodie Majida Rashid lives in Texas. Food and cooking are her passion. Her presentation about her love of food can be viewed on USA Today’s network: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=l0xi566VSPo – We Spread Love Through Food@Frontiers_Of_Flavor. Her philosophical writing can be read at apakistaniwomansjourney.wordpress.com.
