The Evolution and Origins of Curry: A Multicultural Journey

In Britain, the term "curry" has evolved to encompass nearly any Indian dish. However, for most people from the Indian subcontinent, "curry" is not a commonly used term. If used, it typically refers to a meat, vegetable, or fish dish with a spicy sauce, served with rice or bread. This divergence highlights the adaptation of culinary language across cultures.

The origins of what we might now recognize as curry date back to ancient times. The earliest known recipe for meat in spicy sauce with bread was found on tablets near Babylon in Mesopotamia. These tablets, written in cuneiform text by the Sumerians around 1700 B.C., were likely offerings to the god Marduk. This ancient recipe underscores the long history of spiced dishes in human culinary traditions.

In medieval England, during the reign of Richard II (1377-1399), the first significant English cookery book was created. Richard II employed 200 cooks who, along with philosophers, compiled "The Forme of Cury" in 1390, containing 196 recipes. The term "cury" in Old English derived from the French word "cuire," meaning to cook, boil, or grill, linking it to the modern term "cuisine."

The debate over the origins of the term "curry" includes the Tamil word "kari," supported by the Hobson-Jobson Anglo-English Dictionary, first published in 1886. The dictionary cites a passage from the Mahavamsa, a Sri Lankan chronicle from around 477 A.D., mentioning rice dressed in butter with curries. However, this translation by Turnour from the original Pali text used the word "supa," not "curry." This detail suggests that the modern understanding of curry might not be purely of Indian origin.

Interestingly, Hobson-Jobson acknowledges that the curry familiar to Europeans and Muslims may have descended from the spiced cookery of medieval Europe and Western Asia. This theory posits that what is now seen as a quintessentially Indian dish may have a more complex, multicultural heritage. This blend of influences highlights the dynamic nature of culinary evolution, shaped by centuries of cultural exchange and adaptation.
The Evolution and Origins of Curry: A Multicultural Journey

History of curry dish in England

A taste for curried food has a long history in United Kingdom. Curry was introduced to England as an Indian dish, and the culinary representation of Britain’s colonization of India.

It was a foodstuff that was practically synonymous with East India Company culture. Curry was the daily meal for East India Company members in India and when they returned to England, they recreated that experience in coffeehouse steeped in nostalgia.

As early as 1747, Hannah Glasse produced the first known English recipe to make ‘a currey in the Indian Way,’ in her book.

In 1861 Isabella Beeton published Book of Household Management contained a recipe for curry powder which contained coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, cayenne, mustard, ginger, allspice and fenugreek, though she also noted that ready-made curry powder could be bought at any respectable shop.

On 27 March 1811, an advert appeared in the Times that announced to the retired East India Company officials of London that they would now be able to enjoy ‘Indian dishes in the highest perfection’ at the newly opened Hindostanee Coffee House.

The Indian proprietor, Sake Dean Mahomed, assured his customers that the spices, oils and herbs, for curries were all specially procured in India.

Curry moved out of London coffeehouses and onto grocery shelves, where the commercialization of ready-made curry powder helped to cultivate and polarize the taste for curry in the English culinary landscape.

While the origin of curry powders are unknown, it was said that the curry powder was invented in the 17th century as an export commodity for East India Company employees to take or send back to England.

But curry powder moved out of East India Company circles, and was gradually incorporated into English cuisine. By the late nineteenth century, curry powder had become a familiar ingredient in English kitchens.

Curries preparation became standardized after the series of world’s fairs and exhibitions, including the 1895–1896 Empire of India Exhibition in Earl’s Court, where a Curry House offered visitors ‘Eastern dishes’.
History of curry dish in England

History of curry dish in India

Definition of curry is any dish, wet or dry, flavored with curry powder – a ready-made mixture that generally includes turmeric, cumin seed, coriander seed, chilies and fenugreek.

Henry Yule and A.C Burnell, in Hobson-Jobson (1886) explained that ‘curry’ was a savory dish made up of ‘meat, fish, fruit or vegetables cooked with a quantity of bruised spices and turmeric’ served to flavor the two staple foods of the east – bread and rice.

The Tamil word ‘kari’ means a spiced sauce, one of the sorts of dressing taken in South India with rice and soupy in consistency.

The traditional South Indian ‘kari’ does not have a fixed set of ingredients, but a typical mixture was: curry leaf, coriander, cumin and mustard seeds; red and black pepper; fenugreek; turmeric; and less certainly cinnamon, cloves, cardamom.

Curries are an integral part of the cuisine of South-East Asia and Indonesia. As early as the third century BC, Indian traders and Buddhist missionaries brought tamarind, garlic, shallots, ginger, turmeric and pepper to the region.

The oldest indication of Indian curry was cited by Athenaeus from Megasthenes:
Among the Indians, at a banquet, a table is set before each individual and on the table is placed a golden dish on which they throw, first of all boiled rice and then they add many sorts of meat dressed after the India fashion.

According to the historians curry powder was invented in the 17th century as an export commodity for East India Company employees to take or send back to England. Normally curry dish mixture always freshly prepared in India. The British becoming accustomed to it and wishing to have it available in Britain, created commercial ready-mixed curry powder.
History of curry dish in India