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丨 Curry is a spice blend that is rich in antioxidants and has health benefits
丨The color of the yellow curry comes from "turmeric", turmeric is not ginger
丨 Buy curry powder, don't buy curry cubes! (See curry powder usage in the text)
During the weekend break, do you cook your own food at home?
For the kitchen white, is there a kind of cooking that is convenient and easy to use, the ingredients are arbitrarily selected, and a simple operation can make most people marvel at the deliciousness?
If there is, I think it's curry!
Whether it is vegetables, meat, fish, shrimp, staple foods, it is good to accompany curry.
But did you know that curry is not only delicious, but also good for health? Let's talk about curry today
The curry dish "Chicken tikka masala", common in Indian restaurants in Europe and North America, is written by Hellosputnik
"Curry" originated in India, and the three basic spices of Spicy Stew in India a long time ago were ginger, garlic and turmeric, which is what "curry" originally looked like.
But what really gave it the name "curry" was actually the Europeans who came to India later, and it was also under their influence that "curry" was sold as a commodity and spread all over the world.
Rogan josh, a lamb curry dish in the Kashmir region, contains tomatoes and yogurt in the sauce 丨 Source: wikipedia author gahdjun
Today's "curries" can be made with a variety of spices, usually including turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, and chili peppers.
Other common additions are ginger, black pepper, mustard seeds, curry leaves, and fennel seeds.
After curry spread to various countries, local specialty recipes were also developed.
Curries from different countries with very different styles
For example, standard Japanese curry adds ground apples or honey to add sweetness, and the vegetables eaten with it are generally onions, carrots, potatoes, and sometimes celery, as well as meat cooked in a large pot.
Japanese Curry Dishes Source: wikipedia Author: Nakashi
Bengal curry is eaten with mustard seeds, mustard oil, and poppy seeds, mainly with seafood.
In Korea, curry is added to fried rice cakes, fried rice, fried chicken, and fish cakes.
In addition to being rich in turmeric, Malaysian curries also include coconut milk, green onions, ginger, shrimp paste, chili, garlic, tamarind and so on.
Thai curries are the most varied and are distinguished by different spices and different peppers, with chili, lemon leaves, lemongrass, onions or shallots, garlic and shrimp paste all common ingredients in Thai curries.
Red curry, yellow curry, green curry
In Southeast Asian cuisine restaurants, you will also encounter different colors of curry, yellow, red and green.
The yellow color of the "classic" yellow curry is derived from the main ingredient turmeric.
Note that turmeric and the ginger we usually say are not the same thing.
"Ginger" is the genus Ginger of the ginger family, "turmeric" is the genus turmeric of the ginger family, they are two different plants, both of which are root parts that we use as a seasoning, and the appearance is also quite similar, but the color of turmeric is more yellow after being cut open, and the curcumin contained in it is a natural pigment, which has also been used as a dye for buddhist monks' robes in India.
Turmeric Source: Natural Herbarium of China
Red curry and green curry are Made in Thailand, and red curry is served with plenty of red pepper sauce and coconut milk.
Green curry, on the other hand, uses green peppers, lime leaves, etc., and also adds coconut milk, which is generally milder than red curry.
Thai Green Curry Chicken Source: wikipedia Author: takeaway
India also has red curries with red gravy dyed with Kashmiri peppers and extracts of the red flowers of the cockscomb flower.
Health benefits of curry
The spices in curry, including turmeric, star anise, fennel, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, garlic, pepper, chili pepper, etc., have some common advantages:
●Make food safer ●
These spices generally have a certain antibacterial and insecticidal effect, of which turmeric has been found to be a relatively broad spectrum of antifungal agents.
After these spices are added to food, the shelf life is extended, the probability of mold and decay is reduced, and food safety is improved.
This is why the practice of adding spices to food has been very popular in Southeast Asia, where climates are hot and humid.
●Make food delicious and healthy ●
These spices make the food attractive, without adding too much salt, sugar is also very delicious, which also makes the food healthier to a certain extent.
●More satiety after eating ●
And interestingly, these spices promote appetite before eating, but after eating, they can bring a greater feeling of fullness.
Curry powder, for example, has been found to improve satiety. In one study, men who consumed meals containing 6 or 12 grams of curry powder reported significantly lower hunger and appetite after meals compared to curry powder. Other studies have found that mixing spices can increase satiety between meals by suppressing "hunger" and the "desire to eat" immediately after meals. [5]
●Antioxidant, good for health ●
These spices in curry are also rich in antioxidants.
Too many free radicals in the body can lead to oxidative stress, which has been linked to many chronic diseases (such as heart disease, mental decline), and eating antioxidant-rich foods has been found to reduce the effects of oxidative stress, resulting in a positive effect on health.
An analytical study of 7634 Koreans' diet, exercise and health found that people who consumed curry 2-4 times a month after excluding other influencing factors such as exercise and smoking had significantly better blood sugar and lipid levels compared to those who consumed curry less than once a month. There are also some studies that suggest that eating curry may have a favorable effect on blood pressure levels. [4]
There is also some research evidence that curcumin can improve systemic marker levels of oxidative stress, increase antioxidant enzyme activity, and play a local anti-inflammatory effect. [1-3]
Studies have also found that the piperine contained in black pepper can improve the bioavailability of curcumin, so the combination of the two is a good choice. [1]
Use powder, don't use blocks
The above benefits are all brought about by the spices in the curry itself, and mixed spice powders like curry powder are quite good, but if you buy finished curry blocks, that's another matter.
The ingredients of curry powder are only those spices, some add salt, some do not, can do 0 calories, 0 sodium, 0 sugar.
A curry powder ingredient list and nutrition facts list
The finished curry blocks, or the convenient curry dishes that are bought directly, add a lot of salt, sugar, fat, and some also contain trans fatty acids, so that the unhealthy combination can greatly reduce the benefits of the spice itself.
An ingredient list of common curry blocks, the main body is oil and wheat flour (ingredient list 1, 2 places), followed by sugar and salt, energy, fat, carbs, sodium content are high.
How to use curry powder
Curry powder can be sprinkled like salt directly into dishes to taste.
But if the curry you're used to is creamy and rich, you can also use curry powder to spice up your own healthy curry sauce.
One way to do this is to thicken it with starch, milk, or coconut water.
Examples of steps:
1, the first step is the routine step of stir-frying, put a little oil in the pot, add ginger, minced garlic or minced onion and stir-fry the aroma.
2: After the aroma rises, add a small bowl of starch mixed with water, add 2-3 spoons of curry powder, stir-fry evenly.
3: Add the chopped ingredients, stir-fry until evenly wrapped in yellow sauce, during which time if the pot is too dry, you can put a small amount of water.
4, after mixing evenly, pour in a carton of milk or coconut milk, if there is not enough ingredients, then add some water, and then bring to a boil on high heat, turn to medium heat to simmer, and finally collect the juice. (In the middle, pay attention to stir-frying several times, to prevent sticking to the pan, the process can taste salty, if you use unsalted curry powder, you can add the right amount of salt according to your preference)
If you prefer the sour taste, you can also change it to crushed tomatoes as a sauce base.
Add a little oil to the pot, add ginger, minced garlic, minced onion, chopped tomatoes (put more), curry powder, stir well, simmer for a while, wait for the tomatoes to become a paste, add the chopped ingredients and cook.
Do you love curry? Share your exclusive curry recipe
Resources:
[1] Hewlings SJ, Kalman DS. Curcumin: A Review of Its Effects on Human Health. Foods. 2017;6(10):92. Published 2017 Oct 22. doi:10.3390/foods6100092
[2] DiSilvestro, R.A.; Joseph, E.; Zhao, S.; Bomser, J. Diverse effects of a low dose supplement of lipidated curcumin in healthy middle-aged people. Nutr. J. 2012, 11, 79.
[3] Cox, K.H.; Pipingas, A.; Scholey, A.B. Investigation of the effects of solid lipid curcumin on cognition and mood in a healthy older population. J. Psychopharmacol. 2015, 29, 642–651.
[4] Kwon Y. Association of curry consumption with blood lipids and glucose levels. Nutr Res Pract. 2016;10(2):212-220.
[5] Haldar S, Lim J, Chia SC, Ponnalagu S, Henry CJ. Effects of Two Doses of Curry Prepared with Mixed Spices on Postprandial Ghrelin and Subjective Appetite Responses-A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial. Foods. 2018;7(4):47. Published 2018 Mar 26.