Everything about a South Asian curry is great: the warming masala spices, the comforting pulses and rice, the bright turmeric and fresh ginger. Plus, if you manage to resist the calorific curry house version and make one from scratch, it’s healthy and cheap. Even science agrees that curry is the best.
Well, almost everything is great. There is one downside to the dish—one that inevitably rears its stubborn orange head when you’re wearing your favourite white Uniqlo tee. Curry stains are impossible to get out. No amount of scrubbing, soaking, or mum-approved laundry detergent will lift an in-ground dhal stain off a pale garment.
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But Panasonic may have found a solution. The electronics manufacturer just launched a new washing machine for its Indian market that comes with a special “curry mode,” designed to lift stubborn oil and spice stains from clothing.
Panasonic developed the curry button after customers complained that its existing machines did not fully remove marks left by the dish. Researchers from the company spent two years analysing the ingredients in curries eaten by the average Indian family, and testing combinations of water temperature and flow. They say that they have managed to come up with the perfect washing machine setting for fully ridding clothing of curry stains.
It’s not yet clear whether Panasonic will release a similar curry setting on washing machines in the UK. In the meantime, maybe tuck your napkin into your collar before diving into that balti.
