# Dried potatoes peas curry, wet potatoes peas curry



## Roymalika

This is potatoes peas curry (a common dish here).
Here in this pic, the curry is dried, i.e. there's no shorba in it.



Here in this pic, the curry is wet, i.e. there's shorba in it.

So can I say "dried potatoes peas curry" and "wet potatoes peas curry"?

I like dried potatoes peas curry more than the wet potatoes peas curry.


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## Florentia52

No. The potatoes are not dried, and we don’t generally use “wet” to describe any food dish. You’ll have to take a different approach if for some reason you don’t want to use the names of the dishes in your language, which is what we usually do. If it’s called aloo matar in the place it comes from, we would probably call it aloo matar.


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## Hermione Golightly

You need to use 'dry' not 'dried'. Talking of curries we use 'wet' when there's sauce and 'dry' when there's very little.
Now you also need the word 'and' between potato and pea.
_I like potato and pea dry curry _or_ I like potatoes and peas dry curry._


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## Keith Bradford

I don't think you'd like *dried *curry - it would mean that there was no moisure at all, a method of preserving it perhaps?

Try "I like dry potato-and-pea curry more than the wet potato-and-pea curry".  But what Florentia says about using the original title is good; in Britain at least we're fairly familiar with names like _aloo matar ki karhi_.


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## Florentia52

I see there is a BE/AE divide here. (Though I’ve remembered that we use “wet mop” for a moist barbecue sauce in some areas.)


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## Hermione Golightly

As far as I know 'wet' is used only for curry so I would guess it's been picked up as a translation.


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## Roymalika

Hermione Golightly said:


> Talking of curries we use 'wet' when there's sauce and 'dry' when there's very little


Is the orange coloured liquid you see in the second curry in the OP called 'sauce'? I am calling it "wet" because, while cooking it, we put more water in it. So the resulting curry is what you see in that second picture - having orange colored liquid (i.e. _shorba_)
On the other hand, if we put a little water, then we get what you see in the first pic. There is no shorba in it.

And yes, it is called _aloo mater_ here.


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## Egmont

Hermione Golightly said:


> As far as I know 'wet' is used only for curry so I would guess it's been picked up as a translation.


It's also used for scallops, at least in parts of the northeast U.S. Wet scallops are treated with water at sea as soon as they are harvested. That gives them a longer shelf life but harms their flavor. Dry scallops are not treated in this way. Wet scallops are more common, but dry scallops are worth a search (if one likes scallops).


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## Roymalika

Egmont said:


> It's also used for scallops, at least in parts of the northeast U.S. Wet scallops are treated with water at sea as soon as they are harvested. That gives them a longer shelf life but harms their flavor. Dry scallops are not treated in this way. Wet scallops are more common, but dry scallops are worth a search (if one likes scallops).


Thanks for letting me know that.


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## islandinthesun

Roymalika said:


> Is the orange coloured liquid you see in the second curry in the OP called 'sauce'? I am calling it "wet" because, while cooking it, we put more water in it. So the resulting curry is what you see in that second picture - having orange colored liquid (i.e. _shorba_)
> On the other hand, if we put a little water, then we get what you see in the first pic. There is no shorba in it.
> 
> And yes, it is called _aloo mater_ here.


I call it gravy. Sauce also sounds good to me.


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## Barque

_Gravy_ is the word usually used in the subcontinent but I believe it refers specifically to the fat or juices that drip from meat when cooking, and then used as a sauce. The liquid in _aloo matar _is usually from an onion and tomato base. I guess _sauce_ is the right word, unless you're in this part of the world.


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## Roymalika

Barque said:


> The liquid in _aloo matar _is usually from an onion and tomato base.


First, we put onions and tomatoes and oil in the pot. Then we put a paste of grinded garlic, green chilies, ginger in it. Then we put red chilli powder and salt in it. Then we cook it for some time. Finally we add water into it. That is how _shorba_ is formed. 
(I hope you've heard about the word "shorba")


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## Ponyprof

If I was referring to barbecue in the American South, I'd distingush between barbecue with and without sauce.

If one version is truly dry you could call it "dry roasted potato curry with peas." The other version could be "potato and pea curry with shorba sauce."

I expect I've eaten shorba sauce, but not under that name. On our local menus in Indian restaurants it is listed as some spelling version of "alloo matar (potato and pea curry)."

In my world, there is such a thing as freeze dried foods for back packing. So dried curry to me might be something in a tinfoil package at the camping store!


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## Myridon

Roymalika said:


> Is the orange coloured liquid you see in the second curry in the OP called 'sauce'?


To me, the first one has a thick sauce and the second one has a thin sauce and more of it.


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## Roymalika

Barque said:


> I guess suace is the right word, unless you're in this part of the world


In other words, you are saying that sauce isn't the right word for shorba?


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## Barque

No, I didn't say that. I was comparing _gravy_ and _sauce_, and saying _gravy_ is probably used more than _sauce _in this part of the world to refer to what you call _shorba _in Urdu_. _


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## Roymalika

Barque said:


> ....in this part of the world_. _


You meant subcontinent?


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## Barque

Yes.


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## Roymalika

Barque said:


> Yes.


OK, do people in English speaking world not make curries having shorba in it in the same way we do here in Pakistan and India?


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## Barque

You probably know that what you call curries are south Asian and Middle-Eastern in origin. People in the English speaking world probably make them based on Asian recipes, so they probably make them like they're made here. In any case, aren't we going off topic?


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## Roymalika

Barque said:


> I'll let someone from the English speaking world answer. I doubt they call it _shorba_. That's not an English word, and I've never heard it used for sauce, only for soup.


Yes, it isn't an English word. I just wanted to know whether they make curries in the same way as we do here.

Coming to the original question, do you agree that "wet" can be used for the curry having shorba in it and "dry" can be used for the curry with no shorba?


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## Barque

Roymalika said:


> I just wanted to know whether they make curries in the same way as we do here.


I edited my last post and answered that.


Roymalika said:


> Coming to the original question,


That question has already been answered above. If I had a different opinion I'd have said so.


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## GreenWhiteBlue

Roymalika said:


> Yes, it isn't an English word. I just wanted to know whether they make curries in the same way as we do here.


While curry is popular in Britain, in the United States most people never make or eat curry at all, and "shorba" is a completely unfamiliar word.  Note that while some people here do like Indian food, most Americans have either never had it at all or (and I am among this latter group) have tried it but find it generally unpleasant, and try to avoid it as much as possible.  I strongly dislike hot chilies, and to my taste any food that had both green chilies and red chili powder in it is close to being inedible.  That being said, while my idea of a delightful meal could involve a beef rib roast served with beef gravy, or some baked pork chops, I know that many people in India would be completely disgusted by the thought of one or the other, and possibly both.

Getting back to terminology, as a general rule, the word "gravy" refers to a fat of some kind (such as drippings from roast meat, or butter, or lard, etc.) that has been cooked with flour to make a "roux", to which a liquid (broth, or water, or milk, etc.) is then added.

If no fat and flour is involved, the liquid you have produced by cooking vegetables or spices in liquid is a "sauce", and as you describe shorba, to me it is clearly a sauce and not a gravy.

I note, though, that some Italian-Americans refer to tomato sauce as "gravy", which I take to be an adoption by immigrants of the English-language term used by their non-Italian English-speaking neighbors for the hot liquid (which actually was gravy..) that they were ladling over their dinners.  It is possible that a similar adoption based on use of the liquid rather than its actual ingredients occurred in your area.


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## RM1(SS)

GreenWhiteBlue said:


> While curry is popular in Britain, in the United States most people never make or eat curry at all, and "shorba" is a completely unfamiliar word.


I love Indian cooking, but never heard of"shorba" until today.


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## Ponyprof

Where I live we have a large, growing, and long established East Indian community (predominantly Sikh), also a similar huge  Cantonese Chinese community, and substantial other Chinese plus Korean and Japanese communities.

Obviously people within those communities cook their family heritage foods at home, at least for the first several generations. But by and large, only more devoted "foodies" get any great skill in making foods they didn't grow up with and learn from watching their mothers. This despite the fact there are many beginner cook books for different cuisines that explain new ingredients and techniques in detail. 

However, our city has fabulous restaurants, or did before Covid 19, so most of us are familiar with eating a huge range of foods we couldn't reliably prepare at home. 

So "whether they make curries the same way here" depends on who is doing the cooking. If it's an Indian family or restaurant, probably exactly the same as the region they came from. 

If it's a diligent ambitious home cook from a different background with a good Curries For Dummies cookbook, then they probably cook similar if everything goes well  and they can source all the ingredients.


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## Edinburgher

RM1(SS) said:


> I love Indian cooking, but never heard of"shorba" until today.


Me too.  Wikipedia tells me that shorba is a soup.  Is that incorrect?  Because it doesn't sound like any curry sauce I've ever eaten.


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## Hermione Golightly

> do people in English speaking world not make curries having shorba in it in the same way we do here in Pakistan and India?


I have to guess what 'shorba' means because it is not an English word.
Few people make curry the same way as people in the sub-continent.  A great many people eat curry made in restaurants, commonly as take-away. I believe the dishes are adapted to British taste. Because we have a numerous Indian, Pakistani, and Tamil population, the most common ingredients can be found. Apart from the modifications, both wet and dry can be bought and of course made at home except of course few people have tandoori ovens.
I forgot to mention that to me gravy is associated with traditional British cooking. Any other sort of liquid whether Italian, 'Indian' or French is 'sauce'.


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## Roxxxannne

RM1(SS) said:


> I love Indian cooking, but never heard of"shorba" until today.


Neither have I.  Judging from the photos in the OP, I would say we eat both wet and dry curries in my household, probably dry curries more than wet ones.  But we don't describe them as wet or dry, we just call them by their recipe name.  Cauliflower and potato curry is my favorite, but I guess that's actually aloo gobi.


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## Barque

RM1(SS) said:


> I love Indian cooking, but never heard of"shorba" until today.


Shorba is an Urdu word, perhaps of Persian or Arabic origin, and probably used more in Pakistan where the OP's from or the Muslim community in India. 


Edinburgher said:


> Wikipedia tells me that shorba is a soup.


Yes, that's how I usually hear it used. I guess it's also used by some to refer to sauce if it's watery or like a broth.


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## london calling

Recipes please. 😊I'm always on the lookout for recipes for traditional dishes. 

I'd probably call the first one 'potato and pea curry,' simply because to many of us ignorant Brits curry isn't watery. And I'd call the second one 'potato and pea curried soup'. Again, because we're ignorant. 🤣


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## Roymalika

Roxxxannne said:


> Neither have I.  Judging from the photos in the OP, I would say we eat both wet and dry curries in my household, probably dry curries more than wet ones.  But we don't describe them as wet or dry, we just call them by their recipe name.  Cauliflower and potato curry is my favorite, but I guess that's actually aloo gobi.


We make some curries with shorba, some without it. Aloo gobi is what we make without shorba.

Here are the pictures of aloo chicken (potato chicken) made with shorba:





Sometimes the shorba is thick, sometimes it is dilute. It depends on how much water we put while making a curry.


Procedure for making potato chicken curry with shorba:

First, we put oil in the pot. Then we put chopped onions and chicken in it and fry it for some time until the colour of onions changes slightly. Then we put salt, red chilli powder, green chilies, and chopped tomatoes. We cook it for some time, stirring the spoon in it. Then we put potatoes in it. Finally we put water in it. After 10 minutes, the dish is ready....with red coloured liquid (shorba) in it.


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## london calling

Right, thanks. 😊


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## Roymalika

Have you now understood how a dish with shorba is made? If yes, what would you call this liquid shorba? Suace or anything else?


london calling said:


> Right, thanks. 😊


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## Barque

Roymalika said:


> Procedure for making potato chicken curry with shorba:
> 
> First, we put oil in the pot. Then we put chopped onions in it and fry it for some time until the colour of onions changes slightly. Then we put salt, red chilli powder, green chilies, and chopped tomatoes. We cook it for some time, stirring the spoon in it. Then we put potatoes in it. Finally we put water in it. After 10 minutes, the dish is ready....with red coloured liquid (shorba) in it.


LC is going to be disappointed when she takes it off the stove and finds no chicken in it. 


Roymalika said:


> If yes, what would you call this liquid shorba? Suace or anything else?


That's been answered above several times. Sauce.


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## london calling

Or peas. 🤣


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## Roymalika

Barque said:


> LC is going to be disappointed when she takes it off the stove and finds no chicken in it.


Sorry, I forgot to mention chicken in it. I now have edited. 


Barque said:


> That's been answered above several times. Sauce.


thanks, I wanted to confirm it from London calling, as she asked for the recipe.


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## london calling

Yes, sauce in BE. 'Curry sauce' is a common collocation.


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## Barque

Roymalika said:


> I wanted to confirm it from London calling, as she asked for the recipe.


Yes, I should have let her answer. 

The point I was making is that you don't necessarily have to repeat the question as you sometimes do. People know this isn't maths, where there's just one right answer, and that there can be multiple right answers in language, and people usually tell you everything they can think of that'd fit. If you've got just one answer after 35 replies, it usually means there aren't any others.


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## Roymalika

london calling said:


> Yes, sauce in BE. 'Curry sauce' is a common collocation.


"Curry sauce" sounds like an accurate term to be used to refer to this liquid shorba. People here in Pakistan call it "gravy". It doesn't sound right, as it isn't how it is formed in your country.


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## Barque

Roymalika said:


> "Curry sauce" sounds like an accurate term to be used to refer to this liquid shorba.


And if you do want to make sure, read every post. See Edinburgher's #26.


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## Roymalika

Barque said:


> Yes, I should have let her answer.
> 
> The point I was making is that you don't necessarily have to repeat the question as you sometimes do. People know this isn't maths, where there's just one right answer, and that there can be multiple right answers in language, and people usually tell you everything they can think of that'd fit. If you've got just one answer after 35 replies, it usually means there aren't any others.


I consider your answers as equally accurate as the ones from native speakers. I never doubted the information you provide here. I just was wondering what LC had in mind.
I am sorry if you mind it.


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## Barque

Roymalika said:


> I am sorry if you mind it.


Not at all. I was referring to everyone's answers, not just mine. Threads tend to go off-topic the longer they become.


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