A Journey to Curry

My parents were the first global citizens I knew. Their woven weave of experiences took up space in our black American home. In addition to the art and textiles, the music, and the politics, it showed up on our table. For instance, following my mother's trip to the Senegalese Coast, she returned home with a recipe called Groundnut Stew. She didn’t have a written recipe just a memory of what it should taste like. Such a simple recipe, I imagine that so many recipes have survived this way. Through the sheer will of women traveling across oceans, with the intention of one day tasting it again, with someone they love.

We had family friends from Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and beyond. I distinctly remember a deep brown-skinned man named Sunny T. He had big bright white teeth and a thick accent from St. Croix. He and my father would sit at the round wooden dining table for hours laughing loudly over spicy food. Sunny T would tell my brothers and me, stories of his home island, describing mangos sweeter than I've ever had, and fish recipes spicy and succulent. His words dripped with an accent that drew me in. As a little girl, I imagined it was the hot peppers that made words dance from his mouth in this way.

There was a sweet soft-spoken woman in our congregation that makes the most succulent pot of rice and peas. Or peas and rice. Anyway, the rice was perfectly cooked, standing at attention, while her red kidney beans were so plump I would often pick them out and eat them first. It was perfectly smooth and creamy from the coconut milk, all while packing the right punch with a singular scotch bonnet. These were my foundational experiences of global cuisine, recipes bouncing between the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Seas, by way of memory, and fellowship.

Similarly, My first experiences with curry were at the hands of Caribbean women. I had no idea the journey curry took to get to me, a black girl in DC in the 90s. Since then I’ve come to understand curry as a cultural homonym. Meaning something different depending on who you ask.

First, you have, curry as a dish. This is a broad term used to describe a range of dishes originating from South Asia, particularly India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and other neighboring countries. These dishes typically consist of meat, fish, vegetables, or legumes cooked in a sauce or gravy, flavored with a blend of spices and herbs. Curries can vary greatly in terms of flavors, ingredients, and cooking styles, resulting in an innumerable array of regional variations. I remember this by remembering that in this case the dish would be called “chicken curry” because “curry” is the dish and “chicken” describes what kind.

Next, we have curry as a spice blend. In Western countries, "curry powder" is a commercially prepared spice blend commonly used to flavor curry dishes. It is typically a mixture of various ground spices such as turmeric, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, cinnamon, cardamom, and others. However, it's important to note that authentic curry dishes in South Asian cuisines often use freshly ground spices or specific spice combinations based on regional traditions, rather than a standardized curry powder.

Finally, there is curry as a cooking technique. It typically involves sautéing or frying spices and other aromatic ingredients, such as onions, garlic, ginger, and chili peppers, in oil or ghee (clarified butter), followed by the addition of meat, vegetables, or other main ingredients. The dish is then simmered or cooked slowly to allow the flavors to develop and the ingredients to tenderize. Perhaps this is why the Carribean dish is called “curried chicken” denoting the way the chicken was prepared. In this instance, curry is an adjective.

I started this journey with a desire to make the Caribbean curry I know and love so much, but after multiple failed attempts, I had to start with the former to understand the fundamentals. Curry made its way to the Caribbean through a combination of historical factors, including colonization, migration, and cultural exchange. The origins of curry can be traced back to the Indian subcontinent, particularly India, where it has been a staple part of the cuisine for centuries.

During the era of European colonization, many Indian laborers were brought to the Caribbean, primarily by the British and Dutch. These laborers were recruited to work on sugar plantations and in other agricultural industries. With them, they brought their culinary traditions, including the knowledge of curries. Indian laborers in the Caribbean adapted their traditional curry recipes to incorporate local ingredients and flavors available in the region. They made use of local spices, herbs, and vegetables to create a fusion of Indian and Caribbean flavors. Over time, these adaptations and influences shaped the unique Caribbean curry styles that exist today.

Furthermore, the Indian diaspora in the Caribbean, along with subsequent waves of migration and intermarriage, have helped to sustain and spread the culture of the region. Indian communities in the Caribbean preserved their culinary traditions and passed them down through generations, maintaining the popularity and presence of curry dishes. It's important to note that Caribbean curry styles can vary from island to island and among different communities. Each island and community has its own variations and interpretations of curry, incorporating local ingredients, spices, and cooking techniques to create their distinct flavors and dishes.

The introduction of curry to the Caribbean is an example of how culinary traditions can travel and evolve through historical events, migration, and cultural exchange, resulting in the rich and diverse food cultures we see in the region today.

I plan to share my curry recipe soon, in the meantime, I thought I’d share this video by Rajiv Surendra. He is a thoughtful creator that offers his audience a view into his beautifully simple life and style. His channel is a favorite of mine, and his video making Chicken Curry and Roti was a peek into his Tamil heritage and inspired me to explore my own recipe, as a daughter of the diaspora.