vijayjohn wrote:Why would that be suspect?
I guess because according to those same sources (at least Dictionary.com), kari in Tamil means 'sauce'. Perhaps that's what it used to mean at one point, but afaik kari in Tamil just means curry: a particular style of cooking / dish. I'm not sure what word would be used for sauce although I would guess sothi?
EDIT: And by "dessert-like dish," do you mean பாயசம்? I think I see that translated into English as "rice pudding" (even if it's completely different from Western-style rice puddings) or in Indian English as "kheer" (from Hindi).
Not quite; I've seen the translation as "rice pudding" as well, but I know it's actually better translated as "sago pudding" even if most English speakers might be like what the hell is sago (at which point I would be like look it up!). But for me, "rice pudding" has the word "pudding" in it, and for me a pudding is a dessert dish (with the exception of "Yorkshire pudding" but I see that as a specific Britishism that's found it's way into North American vernacular, in the same way "fish and chips" have). But maybe I've just never eaten rice pudding that's not been essentially a dessert dish?