Curry, the misunderstood word

Curry is not a single dish, a single sauce, or even an Indian word in the way people use it. The British colonial era flattened hundreds of regional Indian sauces into one word, and that is what stuck in the West. We use the actual dish names: tikka masala, makhni butter, saag, kadhai, rogan josh, chana. When a guest says, what is your best curry, we say, are you in the mood for something mild and rich (butter chicken), tangy and bright (tikka masala), spicy and deep (rogan josh), or earthy and green (saag)? Get specific. The dish names are the brand.