17 Comfort Foods For Deep Winter

Punjabi Rajma, a rich kidney-bean curry, a tradition hearty bean dish popular in North Indian typically served with rice. Indian superstar chef Sanjeev Kapoor poses for a photo Monday inside of the Toronto Star test kitchen. Kapoor cooked up two vegetarian dishes from his cookbook ‘How to Cook Indian’, with the Star’s food editor Jennifer Bain, April 4, 2011. (Photo by Tara Walton/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

9. Curry

In general, curries are Indian and Indian-inspired dishes made with a complex combination of spices and cooked in a sauce. Most of those spice mixes include cumin, coriander, and turmeric. Preparations called “curry powder” were first made in the 18th century, ostensibly for British people living in India. Common history says that these mixes were sold to members of the British army and government who were returning back to England. Having developed a taste for the food of the occupied India, these people brought an enthusiasm for curry to their own European homeland.

There are seriously thousands of variations on curry out there. They can be “dry” — cooked with a very small amount of liquid, which evaporates and leaves ingredients coated in a sauce – or “wet” — cooked with a bunch of liquid, such as yogurt, coconut milk, or bean puree. You can make it with a bunch of meat or seafood. You can also make a delicious, hearty vegetarian version, if you’re so inclined.

Curries aren’t restricted to India, either. You can find them all throughout the Asian continent, as well as in other countries where Asian people have settled or where others have developed a taste for this dish (as in the U.K.). In Britain, curry even has its own committee in parliament. There, so far from its original home, curry is often modified to fit British tastes.

Recipe: 26 Curry Recipes for When Nothing Else Will Do (Bon Appetit)

Healthy variation: A vegetarian chickpea curry (The Kitchn). Once the weather gets warmer, I also really, really want everyone to try a watermelon curry (traditionally made in Rajasthan) and report back.