Growing up in a small town in the Midwest, my only understanding of curry was the yellow powder in a standard issue wedding-gift spice rack. That powder originated in India, a combination of seasonings that were meant to travel well and mimic fresh curries. Many British returning to the British Isles from the then-colonized subcontinent hoped to bring home flavors they had grown to love.
I never really had a hankering for the blend, and wrongly understood “curry” to mean just that. Years later, the world of curry as a broader category of dishes opened up to me. I learned that Indian, Thai, and Japanese curries existed, and bore little resemblance to the golden powder. My favorite of them all, perhaps, is often referred to as Northern Thai curry.
