Curry is a relatively recent invention, as chilies and coconuts were only found on separate continents until the Portuguese did us the favor of mixing them in Goa , a tiny settlement in the southwestern coast of India. Consequently, Goan cuisine gets the most attention in this web. It stands out among Indian cuisine as the least finicky about the use of beef and pork, owing to the large influence of Christian gluttony in the colony. For vegetarian food, Kerala takes the crown. The Malayalees, as the people who live in the land of coconuts are called, are unable to cook anything without coconuts.
Any old bean tastes fine when cooked with coconut, chilies, and curry leaf.
Many curries are spiced with the leaf of the kari tree, called kari or curry leaf, but the name curry roughly means sauce , not anything you make with that stuff from the supermarket they call Curry Powder. There are wet curries and dry curries, curries designed to preserve foods and curries designed to stimulate the appetite in lethargic tropical climates. You'll find a bit of history and geography mixed in with them, as my payoff for organizing and formatting all of this is the opportunity to editorialize.