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.

Commercial curry powder–which bears little resemblance to the freshly ground blends of southern India–comes in two basic styles: standard/mild, and the hotter of the two, “Madras curry powder Hot”.There are many variations on Madras curry and cooking in India is more a domestic practice than a cuisine governed by the conventions of chefs, restaurants, or texts. Availability of local or locally available ingredients is central to regional Indian foods. The end result of the signatures of Madras curries can be achieved through different means; the result often being that of: red colour; toasty spices; and the smoothness of coconut (or yoghurt); the sour-sweet fruitiness of tamarind; a slight liquorice flavour of anise; ginger; a range of other spices (sweet and savory and earthy) and the flavors of salt, sweet and sour. The redness is achieved with chilli or a mixture of chilli and paprika, and the orange of turmeric. A possible variation, to achieve an end result of redness, is also the addition of the fruity-savory flavors of tomato. The sourness is from the tamarind with the possible addition of lemon, lime or vinegar. The spices are complementary to the fruit and the savory flavors. The savory ingredients include garlic (and possibly also onion or asafoetida). The oil may be ghee or coconut oil. Garam masala may be part of the spice mixture with other spices including coriander, and black peppercorns.