When the really cold weather hits at this time of year, my favorite comfort food is not the soups and stews of family recipe books, but the flavorful warmth of curried dishes from India. The delectable combinations of spices in Indian food (one of the great cuisines of the world) are compelling and most enjoyable.

Aside what some may think, Indian curry recipes are not necessarily hot or spicy. In fact, since I generally do not like hot spicy food (hot to me being painful without flavor), I am always cautious about ordering in Indian restaurants. I often ask the cooks to make my dishes “tourist grade,” so I can eat them. The cooks are most happy to accommodate as they are amazed at my enthusiasm.

I’ll tell you a little story that was a little embarrassing, but was educational for me at the time:

Once I walked into an Indian spice shop and looked around for a can of garam masala for an Indian recipe I wanted to try. I looked high and low through exotic foodstuffs, and then asked the kindly man behind the counter.  He looked at me, amused. He then took me to the back of the shop where a vast array of containers filled with various spices awaited. There were cardamom, chilies, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, garlic, ginger, nutmeg, pepper, tamarind, and turmeric, and other heady spices, too numerous to remember. Masala, he explained, is a custom blend of spices made to suit your own taste.  OH!  And, I sheepishly thought I could just buy a commercially prepared blend of garam masala and be on my way. (I later discovered that Rajah makes a ready-blended garam masala that can be found in many supermarkets’ international food sections next to the red and yellow can of S&B Oriental curry powder).

Although curry dishes can be found in many countries throughout Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia (especially Thailand), I mostly associate curry with India and its neighboring Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It doesn’t matter to me which region the Indian curry recipe is from, whether Bengali, Punjabi, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayali (all with unique ingredients and spices). To me, they all taste delicious.

Despite the complex tastes, Indian curry recipes are really simple to make, and require no special cooking knowledge or techniques. Some Indian curry recipes can be made in minutes (cheating with the canned spice mix I’ll admit); others require several hours to allow the spices to blend and build into a wonderful mélange of high and low flavor notes. Whether the Indian curry recipe calls for chicken, lamb, beef, shrimp or vegetables, when served with hot rice, Indian curry is rich and satisfying.

So here I am, curled up on the sofa in front of the fire with a bowl of Indian curry and hot rice nearby, cooling slightly as I finish this note. For me, making and eating an Indian curry recipe is a great way to chase-away cold winter nights (especially if it contains potatoes). That’s real comfort food. And, yes, I have a special section in my family cookbook just for Indian curry recipes.

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If you enjoyed this article, you might check out:
• Spices Truly Can Spice Up Family Cookbook Recipes
• The Pleasantries of Simple Food
• Top 5 Hot Comfort Beverages to Spice Up a Cold Autumn Day

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