05 Oct An inauthentic, authentic Rainbow curry

What is an authentic curry anyway?

I wanted to call this an inauthentic curry, so that no-one thinks it’s from a particular country or that I’m trying to do something and getting it wrong. In our family, this is a Rainbow curry and it’s a very authentic one, because, as you can clearly see, it’s very colourful. Not knowing how to name it made me start thinking about what curry is anyway. The word has Tamil roots, where kaṟi means spiced meat or vegetables. It was adopted by the Portugese and Dutch traders first. The English spelling (almost) first appeared in Hannah Glasse’s Cookbook in the 18th Century. In Thailand, they only use the word “curry” so that Westerners understand what it is they’re eating. In the native language the curry dishes would be called kaeng. All which leads me to believe that a curry doesn’t need to be “authentic”, because hardly any curry is.

A way to get all those colours and plants in

The theory is that we should be eating plants all the colours of the rainbow, because all those colours contain different benefits. Red is lycopene for heart health,

Orange and yellow contain carotenoids, which your body turns into vitamin A for vision, skin, and immune health. Green means chlorophyll, folate, and vitamin K, which help build strong cells, support blood clotting and reduce inflammation. Blue means anthocyanins that protect brain cells, improve memory, and lower heart disease risk. And finally, white and brown contain allicin and flavonoids that fight bacteria and support your immune system. Of course, diversity has also been the buzzword for gut health recently, as it’s generally linked to resilience.

The recipe for Rainbow curry

I like to make this curry on days when we are going to be out and about, eating whatever we can get our hands on. Then we come home to a curry that’s already made and get our daily dose of colourful plants. This always feels like a win. Of course, being me I forgot to take a picture of the said curry when I made it. I only had a couple of videos, but I hope that this is sufficient to make you try it.