What is the difference between Thai and Indian curries?
There really isn’t any single “Indian curry” or “Thai curry”. “Curry” basically means any stew, and there are immense differences region-to-region and family-to-family within both Thailand and India. Each is made with whatever ingredients grow well locally or are popular locally. Thai curries tend to include coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, and fish sauce. Green curries include Thai basil; yellow curries include turmeric; red curries include red chili peppers. Indian curries vary even more widely, it being a much bigger country. They nearly always include powdered turmeric, as well as any subset of the common Indian spices (cardamom, cumin, black and yellow mustard seeds, fenugreek, asafoetida, ginger, garlic). Both cuisines include whatever vegetables grow locally, along with whatever meats are available. They don’t usually include coconut milk, except in southern India. Thai basil is also pretty uncommon in Indian curries, which are less herb-intensive. But in general,
