From my understanding "Curry" [SIC] essentially means "Sauce" in Indian dialect. That's it, and its not even an Indian word in that form. Indians call it curry for the English (and English speaking) who invented the word...AND the spice blend. There is really nothing "Indian" about "Curry" as Americans refer to it. Indians tell you its curry in their restaurants because Americans are not aware of the facts, and if you dont call it curry, Americans dont think its curry, but will believe ANYTHING is curry if you tell them it is. That's not a diss on Americans, I am one...I just happened to have discovered the facts as I researched how to make what is called curry in Thai Cuisine. I'm not a fan of Indian food...too much sweet stuff for me, raisins and other weird stuff in savory dishes...kind of like African food, at least the restaurants I've been to in the U.S., which is the only versions I have to go by.

Curry=sauce=gravy. From my experience dealing with Brits for instance, when they refer to "Gravy"...what we think of that goes over turkey and mashed potatoes, etc....as "sauce". This is from first hand experience seeing someone who was visiting the U.S. From Kent, U.K. actually refer to what we call "Gravy" as "Sauce". They liked it...just called it something else.

All of it is essentially a liquid whether thin or thick that is used with other ingredients to wetten them.

Here's a quote from this web article

http://indiaphile.info/what-is-curr...r-garam-masala/

That backs up part of what I'm describing:

"Indians usually only use the word “curry” when they are speaking English and then only when referring to something with a sauce or gravy, rather than a spice.

Curry is a word invented by the British back when they ruled India. It is the anglicized version of the Tamil word kari, meaning sauce and is now commonly used to describe almost any food of South Asian origin."


So, a dry spice mix is not a "curry" because it is not a liquid. Curry Powder is a British invention, a dry spice mix...but not "Curry"