People have no sense of humor (even though this joke was rather weak). I love Indian food, and cook it all the time. I have a vast collection of spices and herbs.
As anyone familiar with Indian cooking could tell him, Curry simply means Powder, always a specific one or a specific blend.
Weingarten is a humorist, not a cuisine writer/afficianodo. Give the man a break. I like his often offbeat sense of humor and compared to other WP writers in The Wash. Post Magazine, he’s relatively sane.
I specialize in Italian and Southern cooking. I have so many spices they need three cabinets, a pantry and some counter space to keep them. lol