Madras curry or Madras sauce is a fairly hot curry sauce, red in colour and with heavy use of chilli powder. It originates in the south of India and gets its name from the city of Madras now known as Chennai. This curry can be vegetarian or made with meat. It has its origins in Hindu culture and being vegetarian is common. Curry powder is misnomer. What we refer to as curry powder is a mixture of many spices. The name is a cooruption of the Tamil word karhi. Throughout the days of British Raj, the word evolved as a loose description of any Indian food cooked in sauce. Curry powder is actually a pulverized blend of up to 20 spices, herbs and seeds.
