Curry Translations

[Birchy]

Do the words Biriani, Dhansak, Korma, Bhuna etc. have literal English translations, or do they refer to regions?

[gilf]

It all depend, some have direct local meanings such as Madras and others those based on the dish contents i.e. Dhansak. You also notice changes in spelling from resturant to resturant. Most of the stuff we eat here is nothing like what they eat in India. I saw a program recently where they went to India and asked loads of people what an Onion Bahji was and nobody had a clue. Bahji is a vegetable dish in India normally with potatoes etc and the term Onion Bahji just doesnt work.

[RCP]

Another thing - Balti and Korai referto the type of pot these particular curries are cooked in and are virtually the same.

[andjac]

They are all council estates in Bradford with the exception of balti as in 'balti towers' which is our town hall

[darth vader]

Some are named after regions in India (Madras Bhuna etc), or after the cooking method (tandoori, balti, karahi etc). I know Rogan Josh translates as "red curry" (being that it is tomato based) and i think Dhansak also refers to the contents of the curry. Chicken Tikka Marsala doesn't exist in India and was invented in a curryhouse in Birmingham. These names you find in the Indian takeaway are derived names so English people can distinguish between different types of curry - there is no such thing as a Madras curry in an indian restaurant menu in Madras for example - a local would simply ask for a curry with a bit of heat in it.

The reason for the different spellings is that their language doesn't use the abcdefghijk.... symbols that we recognise so it's all down to interpretation of how the Hindi/Urdu (?) word sounds hence different interpretations at different restaurants. (Note how RCP refers to it as Korai and i refer to it as Karahi)

[beenee]

The word 'bhuna' means fried. A note: the word is 'karhai'

[rja211077]

Dopiaza means double onion

[darth vader]

The word is pronounced "car - high" as you say. How you spell it though is up to you as i explained in my response. Correct Bhuna = fried (sorry i was extremely hung over on wednesday)