Korma, Masala, Vindaloo, Saag: The Curry Cheat Sheet

The names fall into four groups. Some name a sauce base, korma, makhani, saag, karahi. Some name a region, vindaloo, rogan josh, chettinad, dhansak. Some name a spice treatment, masala, jalfrezi, tandoori. And some name a cooking method, bhuna, dum, tikka.

Korma names a specific sauce base: yogurt, cream and ground nuts, mild and aromatic. Masala just means spice mix, so it describes almost nothing on its own, a masala dish is usually built on fried onion and tomato and can be anywhere from mild to hot.

Korma. It's built on dairy and ground cashew or almond with warming spices rather than chili. Malai and pasanda dishes are similarly mild.

Phaal, which is a British-Indian restaurant invention made purely to be extreme. Among traditional dishes, vindaloo and Chettinad cooking are the hottest.

Not really. No Indian language has a general word meaning curry. The English term most likely comes from the Tamil kari, meaning sauce or relish, and was applied by Europeans to a huge range of unrelated dishes.

Palak means spinach specifically. Saag means leafy greens more broadly and may be a mix, which can include mustard greens and others depending on region.

Usually medium rather than hot. The deep red color comes from Kashmiri chili, which is prized for color and is very mild. Josh in the name refers to cooking intensity, not chili heat.

A cooking method rather than a recipe. The masala is fried until the oil separates and most of the liquid cooks off, producing a thick, concentrated dish that clings rather than pours.

No. Bhuna, sukka, jeera aloo, aloo gobi and most tandoori dishes are dry or nearly dry. The sauce in a traditional meal usually comes from a dal served alongside.