Actually, it indeed a specific dish in South India as well (often made from yogurt - https://www.thespruceeats.com/south-indian-yogurt-curry-1957993 https://www

Actually, it indeed a specific dish in South India as well (often made from yogurt - https://www.thespruceeats.com/south-indian-yogurt-curry-1957993 https://www.thespruceeats.com/south-indian-yogurt-curry-1957...). Indians saying aloo 'curry' or cabbage 'curry' is more likely due to India's colonial past, rather than it being a general term the Indians coined. It's well known that curry is one of those words that the English/Portuguese borrowed from South India and then generalised to mean 'pretty much any Indian dish'.