19 Types Of Curries From Around The World

Ask five different people what curry is, and you'll likely get five different answers. Some see it as a specific dish, while others view it as a category of spiced stews and sauces. But what actually defines a curry? The truth is, curry is a broad term that varies widely depending on where you are. It can be a spice mix, a gravy, a type of leaf, or a paste. It can also be a diverse range of dishes. From the fragrant coconut curries of Thailand to the rich, tomato-based masalas of India, curry has countless interpretations.

The story of curry is one of colonization, appropriation, and adaptation. Spiced dishes with pepper were common on the Indian subcontinent prior to the Portuguese arriving in the 15th century. The Portuguese called these dishes caril, which came from the Tamil word kari, meaning "blackened with spices." When the Portuguese introduced chiles and tomatoes, they were incorporated into local dishes. Later, the British were enamored with these dishes they called curry, and even created standardized curry powder spice mixes. 

Over the centuries, Indian traders, European colonizers, and indentured laborers spread curry across the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and beyond. Shaped by local ingredients and traditions, it took on many forms. While we can't cover them all, here are 19 of the most distinctive curries from around the world.

Thailand has always been an important center for trade thanks to its ideal location between the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea. This long history of trade brought a wealth of culinary influences, and few dishes showcase this better than massaman curry. The dish is unique in Thai cuisine because it's heavily influenced by Persian, Indian, and Malay flavors. The name is believed to come from "Mosulman," an old term for Muslim, hinting at its Muslim roots.

Massaman curry typically features slow-cooked beef or chicken with potatoes, coconut milk, and peanuts in a rich spice blend. You get warm spices from India and Persia like nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon combined with Thai ingredients like palm sugar, tamarind, galangal, and fish sauce. The result is a complex curry that's relatively mild, making it a great choice for those who can't handle too much heat.

Kuku paka is a vibrant coconut chicken curry that's popular in East Africa. It originated in the port city of Mombasa in Kenya, which has long been an entry point for traders and immigrants from India and the Middle East. Kuku means "chicken" in Swahili and paka means "delicious" in Punjabi, which is a nod to the mash-up of African and Indian flavors in the dish.

Recipes for kuku paka vary, but it almost always includes chicken in a creamy sauce that features tomatoes, coconut milk, ginger, garlic, onions, coriander, cumin, and chiles. The chicken can be marinated in a spice blend and then grilled, braised, or roasted and added to the spice-infused coconut sauce. It can also be simply seared first and then simmered in the sauce. Some versions include add-ins like potatoes or hard-boiled eggs to bulk up the dish.

While vindaloo is now a staple of Indian cuisine, its roots trace back to Portugal. The dish evolved from "carne de vinha d'alhos," a Portuguese dish of meat marinated in wine and garlic that was brought to Goa in the 15th century. In India, the dish took on local ingredients like black pepper, cinnamon, and tamarind. Chiles and tomatoes, which the Portuguese also brought over, found their way into the mix as well.

Vindaloo became an international phenomenon when the British took the dish back to the U.K. and spread it around the world. Today, you can find many versions of vindaloo featuring beef, pork, lamb, and chicken. Most include a rich sauce that has sour notes from tamarind and vinegar, warming spices, fiery chiles, and aromatics like ginger and garlic. Tomatoes and onions help round out the dish with sweet notes.

In Japan, curry is just as much a comfort food as ramen or tempura. It can be served with rice or noodles, but one of the most popular Japanese curry dishes is katsu curry. Katsu is a breaded and fried cutlet similar to schnitzel, usually made with pork or chicken. Pair the golden-fried meat with a rich curry sauce, rice, and perhaps some pickled ginger and you have an ultra-satisfying meal.

Curry powder was introduced to Japan by British sailors in the late 19th century. The blend of spices was a hit, and it soon spread across the country and took on its own form. Japanese curry is typically thick and mild with earthy notes and just a touch of sweetness. It works particularly well with katsu because the velvety texture and savory flavors balance the crunch and add depth.

When it comes to complex curries, rendang reigns supreme. It comes from West Sumatra, and many historians believe it was inspired by meat curries introduced by Indian traders. However, the Minangkabau people took the curry one step further, cooking the meat for hours until the coconut-based curry sauce condensed to the point where the meat was almost dry and thoroughly infused with flavor. The spices and cooking process also helped preserve the meat, which was another bonus.

Rendang typically consists of beef that's simmered in coconut milk and an array of aromatics and spices including garlic, ginger, onion, lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, chiles, star anise, and kaffir lime leaves. The meat is cooked low and slow for hours until the sauce renders down and the meat is tender enough to pull apart with the hands. This decadent dish is rich, beefy, and layered with Southeast Asian flavors.

The name bunny chow might make you think of a salad or some other healthy vegetarian meal. However, South Africa's bunny chow is the opposite of light. It features a loaf of white bread with the center scooped out and filled with curry. The curry can include mutton, chicken, or veggies. This hearty and portable dish is typically ordered in quarter, half, or full loaves.

Bunny chow originated in the city of Durban around the middle of the 20th century. It gets its name from the Indian bania caste of merchants who sold the dish. There are several origin stories for bunny chow. One posits that it was created as a convenient way for Indian workers to transport their lunch. Another theory suggests that it was a way to sell takeout meals to Black people who weren't allowed to enter restaurants during apartheid.

Sri Lanka is another country with a strategic location that placed it squarely in the middle of the spice trade routes. It should come as no surprise then that there are tons of curries to choose from including tangy seafood curries, spicy meat curries, and lighter vegetarian creations. Polos curry is particularly popular because its main ingredient — jackfruit — is abundant across the country.

Polos curry is typically made with young jackfruit that is slow-cooked in coconut milk and spices until the flesh is tender and absorbs all the spices. The long cooking process also cooks the sauce down until it becomes somewhat dry. The spice mix could include curry leaves, pandanus leaves, cardamom, curry powder, cinnamon, turmeric, and chili powder. The dish is peppery and warming and the jackfruit takes on a texture that's almost meaty.

When you think of traditional German foods, curry probably doesn't come to mind. However, one of the most beloved dishes in the country is currywurst. According to the BBC, more than 850 million servings are scarfed down every year. If you're not familiar with this simple but flavorful snack food, it consists of sliced or whole sausage tossed in a tomato-based sauce and sprinkled with curry powder.

The most popular origin story for currywurst is that a West Berlin snack bar owner named Herta Heuwer created the dish in 1949 by tossing sausages in a sauce made from ketchup and curry powder. Today, you can find multiple versions of the dish featuring all manner of sausages and variations of sauces. Some people add ingredients like Worcestershire sauce, cider vinegar, paprika, and sugar. You can even find gourmet versions at some fine-dining restaurants.

Curry made its way to Trinidad and Tobago in the mid-19th century after the British abolished slavery and turned to places like India for indentured laborers to work in the Caribbean colonies. The Indian workers brought their culinary traditions with them and left a legacy of fragrant and flavorful curries. Over the decades, recipes were adapted to include local ingredients and took on West African and Chinese influences.

Today, you can find a multitude of curry dishes on offer in Trinidad and Tobago. Doubles are tasty sandwiches featuring fried dough called bara that's filled with curried chickpeas and topped with vibrant sauces. Curried crab with dumplings is popular along the coasts, goat is often cooked in a creamy coconut curry sauce, and chicken curry is a staple that's often served with flaky roti bread.

Located on India's southwestern Malabar Coast, Kerala has a tropical climate with an abundance of coconut palms, so many of the curries from this region feature coconut milk. One that seems simple, but is ultra-indulgent, is Keralan egg curry. Also called nadan mutta, the dish features hard-boiled eggs in a rich coconut-based gravy that has sweet, spicy, and herbaceous notes.

A typical Keralan egg curry features ingredients like fennel seeds, ginger, garlic, onions, Kashmiri chili powder, turmeric, curry leaves, green chiles, and garam masala cooked in coconut oil. Tomatoes and coconut milk are added and simmered with hard-boiled eggs. The rich curry is typically served with rice and coconut pancakes called appams (aka hoppers) or rice flour noodles called idiyappam(aka string hoppers). It's often served for breakfast but can be eaten any time of day as a side dish or main.

Mas riha is a creamy fish curry from the Maldives made with local ingredients and spices that found their way to the islands via India and the Middle East. It typically consists of tuna or swordfish cooked in coconut milk with onion, ginger, garlic, chiles, cinnamon, turmeric, and curry leaves. The fragrant curry is often eaten with rice or a flatbread called roshi.

Depending on where you go in the Maldives, you might find different variations of fish curry. For example, on some islands, you might see a creamy coconut fish curry called kuhli riha that's similar to mas riha. Golha riha is a dish from Laamu Atoll that features fish balls in a gravy flavored with spices and grated coconut. The city of Addu is famous for its fish curry made with a special paste featuring cloves, cardamom, and pandan leaves.

Even if you're not a curry connoisseur, chances are you've come across chicken tikka masala. It's a staple at Indian restaurants all over the world, but the dish was actually created in the U.K. Some say it was created by Bangladeshi chefs who migrated to England and adapted chicken tikka to suit Western palates. Others say a Pakistani chef named Ali Ahmed Aslam created it at his restaurant in Glasgow, Scotland, to appease a picky customer.

This rich and creamy curry dish starts out like chicken tikka in that chicken is marinated in yogurt and spices like cumin, garam masala, paprika, and chili powder. It's then grilled or roasted in a tandoor oven. However, unlike its namesake dish, chicken tikka masala is bathed in a luscious sauce made from tomatoes, cream, and sometimes additional spices.

Gulai is a creamy coconut-based curry that is popular in Indonesia and neighboring countries like Malaysia and Singapore. It's roots lie in West Sumatra where it evolved from curries introduced by Indian traders. While gulai features spices that you see in many Indian curries like turmeric, ginger, and cumin, it also includes Southeast Asian ingredients like lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and galangal.

There are countless variations of gulai. It can include meat, fish, or vegetables in spiced coconut milk. Some versions are very lightly spiced or slightly sweet, others are fiery, and yet others have sour notes from ingredients like tamarind. The ingredients are typically ground into a fragrant paste, then added to a pan with the protein or veggies and simmered with coconut milk. Gulai is often served with rice or sometimes a flatbread called roti canai.

Like many Caribbean islands that were colonized by the British, Jamaica saw an influx of Indian indentured laborers in the latter half of the 19th century. They introduced new spices and cooking techniques that evolved into the curry dishes that you find on the island today. Many of those dishes include a curry powder that is unique to Jamaica. It's typically bright orange and goes heavy on the turmeric along with spices like mustard, garam masala, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, and allspice.

Chicken curry is a classic Jamaican dish that's made by marinating chicken in a flavorful mix of onions, Scotch bonnet peppers, curry powder, pepper, allspice, and sometimes herbs like thyme. The chicken is then cooked until browned and simmered with water or chicken stock until tender. Other popular Jamaican curry dishes include slow-cooked goat curry and curried beef patties.

When most people think of Thai curry, they probably bring to mind red or green curry with a thin, spicy coconut-based sauce. Panang curry is a whole different beast. The curry sauce is thicker and more intensely flavored with hints of sweetness, saltiness, nuttiness, and a kick of heat. It's often made with meats like chicken, beef, or pork that can stand up to the substantial sauce. It rarely has vegetables, although some chefs bend the rules.

Panang curry starts with a paste made from red chiles, cumin, coriander, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, fermented shrimp paste, and ground peanuts. The paste is sauteed with coconut cream and palm sugar to add more richness and complexity. Once all the ingredients have melded together, the proteins are stir-fried in the vibrant sauce until cooked through and served alongside rice.

Singapore has an incredibly diverse food scene thanks to its Chinese, Indian, and Malay influences. One dish that perfectly embodies this fusion is fish head curry. The dish was created in 1949 by an Indian food stall owner named M.J. Gomez. He wanted to cook something that would appeal to his Chinese customers, so he concocted a South Indian-style fish curry utilizing just the head, which is a prized part of the fish in Chinese cuisine. The dish was an instant hit.

A typical fish head curry features a fish head from a firm white fish like snapper or sea bass simmered in a tangy, spicy coconut curry sauce. The sauce often includes ingredients like chiles, ginger, garlic, shallots, tamarind paste, tomatoes, and coconut milk. Some people also add eggplant and okra to soak up the sauce and pineapple for a touch of sweetness. 

Chana masala is one example of how foreign influences shaped Indian cuisine and gave birth to curries as we know them today. Chickpeas have been a staple food in India for thousands of years and were likely stewed and ground into flour in ancient times. However, in the 16th century the Mughals introduced spiced chickpea dishes and the Portuguese introduced chiles and tomatoes. These new ingredients and techniques set the stage for what would eventually become chana masala.

There are many ways to prepare chana masala but it typically includes chickpeas, onions, ginger, garlic, and tomatoes. Spices can include coriander, cumin, turmeric, black pepper, curry leaves, and garam masala. The chickpeas and other ingredients are simmered with water or sometimes coconut milk to create a thick stew that's hearty and spicy. Chana masala can be served with rice, naan bread, or a deep-fried bread called bhatura.

Myanmar sits at the crossroads of the Indian subcontinent, China, and Southeast Asia. With that in mind, it's no surprise that curry plays a major role in Myanmar's cuisine. Ohn-no khao swè is a vibrant curry noodle dish that's a comfort food classic. It features chicken and noodles in a creamy coconut broth that's garlicky, spicy, and a touch tangy.

The base of ohn-no khao swè is a mix of ginger, onions, and garlic that is sauteed and cooked with spices like coriander, chili powder, turmeric, and chili powder. Palm sugar, tamarind, and fish sauce are added and then the chicken goes into the pot along with coconut milk and water. Sometimes chickpea flour is added as a thickening agent. The curry is poured on top of noodles and garnished with ingredients like crispy noodles, hard-boiled eggs, cilantro, and fried garlic.

Kari Kapitan is a chicken curry dish from Malaysia that likely dates back to colonial times. When the Portuguese invaded Malaysia, they appointed local captains or "kapitans" as they were called locally, and that's where the name came from. However, no one knows which kapitan the name refers to or exactly when the dish was created. It's now considered a Peranakan heritage dish.

Kari kapitan is not easy to make, but many say it's worth it for its rich spice-forward flavors. The spice paste includes an array of ingredients like minced shallots, chiles, garlic, galangal, turmeric, and lemongrass. The paste is fried and enhanced with dry spices like star anise, cloves, and cinnamon. Pieces of chicken get stir-fried with the spices along with tamarind paste and fermented shrimp paste. Some people also add coconut milk as a final touch.