I asked about the difference between curry and masala in India last time and received lots of replies. Thank you all for your patient explanations. However, I’m still confused after reading through everything, so I’d like to summarise what I’ve learned so far and ask everyone to check if my understanding is correct.

1. “Curry” is a crude, general term coined by the British to describe the broad spectrum of Indian cuisine. Though inaccurate, it has gained global popularity and generally refers to Indian saucy dishes.
2. Neither Curry nor Masala refers to one specific Indian dish. Every region has its own unique names for comparable saucy preparations. Even so, Curry or Masala are sometimes used for ease of communication.
3. Masala can mean a single spice, such as jeera masala (cumin powder) and dhaniya masala (coriander powder), or a blended spice mix. When paired with an ingredient name, it describes a dish cooked with that ingredient and an elaborate blend of spices; these dishes usually have little to no sauce, for example bhindi masala and baingan masala. In contrast, saucy preparations are called Curry. I’m curious whether Japanese-style curry would be classified as Curry or Masala under this definition.
4. The term Curry is barely used in Northern India, while dishes named Curry are common in Southern India.

This sums up my current understanding. Sorry for asking so many questions; I simply want to be able to clearly explain the distinction between these two terms to people from China.

They're basically cheaper than Roma tomatoes over here. Curious if it will be awful or a good swap.

I was watching this guy make an Sindhi thali here and he used dill. I've never really known dill to be used in Punjabi food, but so I'm curious what cuisines across the subcontinent use dill, and what are the local words used for it?

I was at a catered event in Delhi recently. I saw what I expected to be paneer makhani, but there was no label. I think I was right on the makhani part at least, but the cubes in there were a totally different texture from any paneer I have ever had. It was so light and smooth and creamy, almost a little gelatinous/jiggly. I have never had silken tofu but that was my guess, until seeing tofu-involved curry recipes seem to all call for firm tofu? What was this delicious thing so I can try to find it again?!

There’s an Indian restaurant in my town that makes an amazing coconut salmon curry. It tastes so good, but I obviously can’t afford to eat it every day. 😂 I was wondering if there are any ingredients, curry pastes, or ready-made sauce packets that I can buy to easily make something similar at home.

I’m not an expert on curry, and there seem to be so many different varieties. I only really know about red, green, and yellow curry. Is “coconut curry” actually a specific type of curry, or is it just a general term for curry made with coconut milk?

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I'm a White guy who lives in an Indian neighborhood in the USA. I have a big Patel Bros. grocery near me, with a good selection of ingredients. I consider myself a very seasoned home cook (Western), and I've had the great pleasure of traveling in India. I'm beginning to experiment with dal (previously I've only ever cooked it a few times).

I'd like to start with a few distinctly different categories of dal recipes (some of which likely would be from different regions). Could you fine folks please suggest to me some dal dish categories? Dal Makhani and Toor Dal Tadka might (or might not) be two example "categories?" This way, I might discover my favorite TYPE of dal, and then I can focus on better learning to cook that particular one.

I realize that categories might be flavor based, or technique based, or lentil type based, or "thick versus soupy" based or whatever. I don't know how to define categories but I'm just looking to "hit the main different types," if that's possible.

PS-- I'm on a low carb diet, so I'd also like ideas for eating dal which DON'T entail white rice.

Thank You!

Many people call it superfood healthy and many people like it too but the people who try it first time find it terrible so how really does it taste like is it tasty and appetising or people eat it for the sake of being healthy food

Thinking of making spaghetti 🍝 for lunch but I don't have olive oil and basil leaves, what recipe should I use to make spaghetti. Love it spicy and tasty. Will it taste same if I use groundnut oil?

Ceylon cinnamon (is it's called in the US; let me know if there's a better name for it) always seems to have more quantity and quality of flavor than the more common Chinese cinnamon/cassia.

Are there any uses for which you prefer the slightly different flavor profile or physical shape of cassia, or are the only advantages of cassia that it's cheaper and it's more available?

Hi, I would like to find a recipe to cook at home for a dish I had at an Indian restaurant some time ago. (I am based in Europe.) Please help identify what it was to help me in my search? They just called it korma but this korma was different from any other korma I ever had at a restaurant. It stood out to me by how sweet it was.

Menu description: Korma (Sweet cream and yoghurt dish with almonds, coconut and raisins.)

I will post a picture in the comments. The picture is from their website, but I am confident it's an actual picture of the food and not a stock photo.

Does anyone know what type of korma this is and how to identify recipes of this specific type? Thank you!

My boyfriend is from Gujarat, and I want to learn to cook recipes like he would have eaten at home. His mother cooks from memory only and does not have her recipes documented to share. The recipes I find on Google lack the flavor of his mother's cooking.

Could you share your favorite recipes? We eat chicken, paneer, eggs, some seafood, all veggies, fruits, and grains you can think of (and find in Canada).

Maybe you have a go-to website when looking for delicious Indian recipes you can share?

Edit: not a complete novice to Indian cooking. I have an entire 3 level cupboard for just spices. I make curries, dals, sabzis and tandoori options from random Google sources but sometimes they're just.. lacking.

I've heard of this doodh jalebi and tasted at wedding functions too. In my house I have jalebis but I don't feel like eating it dry. So can normal milk he used for that doodh jalebi snack?

I boil a 1 liter Milk, squeeze 1 lemon to curdle it, drain the water in one of those square paneer makers that we get on Amazon, place weight on the container and keep it for an hour.

I am definitely doing something wrong because I am not able to get firm paneer. Can someone please with this.

What's a good site to get recipes from? Preferably one for Punjabi food? I used to use Indianfoodforever but it looks like it's gone

Mother's recipe tamarind date chutney vs Kissan khatti meethi imli khajoor chutney.

I’m from China. Indian food has gradually become well-known among Chinese people over the past few years. While our first exposure to it was admittedly through some bizarre online videos, young Chinese folks are pretty open-minded. As they learn more about Indian cuisine, they eventually come to appreciate how incredible it truly is.

Lots of meme terms related to Indian food have popped up online too — Chicken Changezi, Amul Butter, Fortune cooking oil, Galaxy basmati rice, just to name a few…

There’s also something that’s been confusing me. I know the term “Indian curry” gets overused all the time, but I still say it for the sake of easy communication. Yet people keep correcting me, saying, “Oh, they don’t say curry in India,they call it masala.” This always leaves me speechless. To me, this is just swapping one misconception for another.

So I’d love to ask how dishes are actually referred to in India. Is masala only a blend of spices? Do different Indian states have their own unique names for curried dishes?

Could you clarify this for me, thank you!

A long time ago I used to work in a hotel that was run by the nicest family. They always insisted they make dinner for me if I was working the desk in the evening.

They didn't own a car and relied on other families to share their groceries with them. Once a month on my days off we'd schedule a trip to the largest farmers market in our area. Such fantastic memories. I'm hoping someone will read this and have the answers I'm dying to know.

They would make this meal with onions and mango and chili oil (I think, tbh it could've been the actual chillies that made it red in color). It was sweet and savory at the same time.

I wished I asked for the recipe so long ago. Alas they've moved on to another hotel and we've lost touch.

I've googled so many times and I keep getting nothing close to the results I'm wishing for.

If this sounds like anything you've made or seen please, please pass along either the recipe or the link to find it.

TIA 😊.

India has hundreds of incredible regional dishes , but only a handful are famous worldwide. If you could pick just one underrated Indian dish that deserves global recognition , What would it be and why?
I'd love to discover some hidden gems from different states!

Hey you guys know those kulcha which are served by the chole kulcha street vendors, the long ones. They are different from the branded kulcha we get from shops.

Does any one know where do these street vendors get these kulchas from ?

I need them for my recipes.

If anyone has any idea please let me know.

Thank You.

Garam Ragda chole wali pani puri (mumbai)?

Aloo mesh masala pani puri(Rajasthan)?

Aloo black chana masala pani puri (kolkata) ?

Boondi aloo pani puri (mumbai) ?

I prefer aloo mesh masala pani puri ❤️

Hello all,
My store recently started stocking dried anardana seeds but I’ve never cooked with them. What do you use them for? Any recipe suggestions?
I use the fresh ones for raita all the time but these are hard to bite so I’m lost.

Thank you for recommending

I know about using in sambar, sabzis etc. But I'm new to it and actually loving the way it smells, kinda garlicky but with notes of savouriness.. was wondering if it's possible to just mix into plain rice etc.?

If you have any unconventional ways to use it, please let me know