Curries. What makes them red, or green or yellow?
Curry can be found in most Asian countries, but it originated in India. It was brought to Europe in the 18th century by British Colonialists.
Curries are usually spiced stews with meat or vegetables, served with rice.
I've made curry using mild or hot curry paste, which I like much more than curry powder.
Recently, I was eating Thai food and ordered red curry, which I like very much. But the question arose of what the difference is among yellow, red and green Thai curries.
Thai curries tend to use local ingredients like Kafir lime leaves, lemongrass, chilli peppers and coconut milk, making them more aromatic than their Indian counterparts.
Green curry is made from grinding together shallots, turmeric, green chilies (hence the color), garlic, shrimp paste and galangal.
Red curry is hotter, containing red chilies.
Thai yellow curry is similar to Indian curry, and gets its bright yellow color from turmeric.
Turmeric is a relative of the ginger plant. It adds the bright yellow color to foods like curries or ballpark hotdog mustard. It is also available in capsule, powder and tincture form as a medicinal supplement.
[Image of prawns with red curry sauce via Searchwarp.com]
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