"Curry Culture": A Mumbai Memoir

It’s impossible to have a thorough conversation about culture without considering food. Food, a biological necessity, is threaded into our cultural fabric. You would be hard-pressed to think about the splendor of Chinese culture without considering the decadence of its egg rolls (yes egg rolls!!). You will find it difficult to discuss the complexities of the black experience in America without taking seriously the creativity of soul food. And you cannot properly contextualize India without contemplating the complexity of Indian curry. (And this can be said of any culture: Jamaican Jerk, German beer, Muslim Halal, Italian pasta, "Hood" Ices, Japanese sushi, and so on).

Mumbai, Maharashtra

Curry is a culinary phenomenon originating from the Indian subcontinent. It was anglicized from the Tamil term kari, meaning ‘sauce,’ perhaps around the mid 17^th century (here I am referencing the origin of the term 'curry,' not its usage which may date back to 2600 BCE). Currently, curry is a type of cuisine that can contain meat, seafood, or vegetables. It can be served “wet” (with a lot of sauce) or “dry” (with very little sauce). Essentially, curry is the integration of a, more or less, complex combinations of herbs and spices.

My first meal in Mumbai

Although my time in Mumbai (Bombay) was full of adventures, my most consistent memory is the forcefulness of the food. Now let me be clear. I do not mean to reduce the fourth most populated city in the world to some sort of cultural kitchen. Mumbai is a bustling city with a strong economy and a rich history. Nevertheless, I could not deny the indubitable relationship between what I ate and what I experienced.

Like curry, Mumbai is a complex combination—not of herbs and spices, but—of peoples, religions, castes, animals, music, smells, etc. From the moment I touched down, I couldn’t help but notice the religious and cultural pluralism that dominated every street corner. From the Hindu shrines to your everyday street hustlers…from the unbelievably dirty Arabian sea shore (never thought I’d see ocean water worst than Jersey) to the beauty of the Taj just feet away, I soon realized that I could not fit Mumbai into the confines of my camera pixels (or even this blog entry). Like curry, Mumbai is plural. Indian curry comes in many different forms, as do the people of Mumbai. Like my consumption of curry, my experience in Mumbai was spicy, hot (113° F my first day), and diverse. By the end of my stay I realized that curry is not just a food to be eaten; it is a culture to be experienced!