Oriental Curry by Sarasvati Dias

7/29/2019 Oriental Curry by Sarasvati Dias

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The Oriental Curry

by Sarasvati Dias, Bandra, Mum bai

[email protected]

So m uch has been w r i t t en about th e eastern cur r y in recent t im es.

I t i s be l ieved t hat t he cur ry has been tant a l izing our pa la tes for m ore t han

2500 years. I t is said that the ancient Indians, the f i rst people to use spices,

locked the m in chests.

M ost o f t he w r i te rs and lex icons def ine th e cur ry as a sauce and ho ld t he

v iew that the word cur ry comes f rom the Tami l word Kar i . Some of the

opin ions expressed are real ly am using.

Below are l isted som e of th e op in ions expressed by lead ing wr i te rs on th e

or ig in o f t he Ind ian cur ry .

1- Cur ry com es f rom the Tam i l wo rd kar i m eaning a sauce.2- The Curry is a stew arom at ized w i th herbs and sp ices and cooked w i th

wa te r - Saro j Ha dley.

3- Curr y is a d ish, or ig inal ly m ade of sour m i lk w i th spices, tur m er ic, andot her sp ices and eaten w i th r ice and pu lses and now prepared by t he Anglo-

Ind ian w i th m eat and vegetab les - Cobham Brew er in 'The Dict ionary of

Phra se and Fable'.

4- Curr y is an i tem of Easter n and Far Easter cookery f rom India, Burm a,M alaya. Indonesia and to day has becom e in t ernat iona l in character an d

rep laced by t he Sa lan o f the Nor t h .

5- The or ig in o f t he w ord cur ry is t he Tam i l nursery rhym e w hich goes liketh is- Kai veeshoo Am m a Kai Veeshoo, Kadai ku Poga laam , Kai veeshoo w hich m eans -Lets go t o t he bazaar, young lady, swing you r arm s Surgeon

General E. Balfou r, in Vo l. I ( 3rd edi t ion 1885) of h is Encyclopedia of India,

Eastern a nd Sou th ern Asia.

6- Cur ry is th e cor rupt ion o f t he M alaya lam Kario r t h e Kanareseo rGujarat i kadi meanin g pungent Dict ionary o f Phrase and Fable by Cob ham

Brewer .

7- The or ig in o f t he w ord cur ry is t he Hindu stan i wo rd Turcarr i . In t heco l loqu ia l i t i s shor t ened t o t u r ry and in t he Anglo-Saxon i t becom escurry . -Helen Law son in Ho w to m ake Goo d Curr ies .


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8- The w ord cur ry comes f rom the karh i o r the deep f ry ing pan or thew ok- l ike vessel used for fr y ing or b raising- Cuisine s of In dia .

9- Curr ies or Turrkar is, as they are cal led, are m erely d ishes m ade aro m aticw i th sp ice pow der - Jenifer Bren m an in Cuisines of India

10- Cur ry com es f rom the Tam i l wo rd Kar i w ord m eaning sauce. - RupertCrof t Croo ke in Cook ing f or Pleasure.

11- M rs Lee expresses t he sam e opin ion in No nya Coo kery Book.12- Curry is the e ighteent h centu ry Br i t i sh invent ion w hich seem s to have

had i ts or ig ins in t he Tam i l wo rd karh i w hich m eans sauce. - Asian

Cookbo ok by Bruce de M ustchine.

13- The or ig in o f the w ord cur ry seems to b e a m eat or vegetab le d ish to beeaten w i th r ice w hich is considered to be t he m ain d ish o f the m eal -C.Punjabi

14- Curr y to th e Euro peans covers any hot spicy Indian stew , but in India,there are hu ndreds o f d ishes that w ould q ua l ify un der t h is def in i t ion . - Tom

Sto bart in Coo ks Encyclop edia.

15- Curry or cur r ie is a k ind o f cond im ent in t ro duced f rom Ind ia conta in ingtu rm er ic w hich gives i t a yel low colour , curry leaves, gar l ic, pepper , ginger

and o th er spices.

16- Anot her def in i t ion- Curr y is spiced sauce or curr ied sauce in w hichm eat, f ish etc. are cooked . The pur pose of t urm er ic gives a pecul iar odo ur

and br ight co lour to t he cur ry and t he Kashm ir i ch i l lies or Degi M i rch

instead o f pepper g ives a very ye l low ish red co lour , yel low f rom the

tu rm er ic and br ight red f rom the ch i l lies. - Imp ressions of an Engl ishm an

w ho sojourned in the Raj India.

17- The t rad i t iona l cur ry w as cooked w i th a single egg-p lant or a coup le o fon ions or a handfu l o f len t i ls in a l it t le ghee or o i l , f lavoured w i th

cardam om s, cor iander , cum in and t urm er ic fo r a m i ld b lend w hi le pepperand m ustard f or a ho t o ne d i lu ted w i th sp ices f resh ly groun d, ind iv idua l ly

b lended, th e i r f lavours am algam ated and sm oot hened ou t by the add i t ion

of coconut m i lk or curds and i t w as possib le to p roduce a very w ide range o f

sauces on t he basic grain fo ods of Ind ia. The tr ue curry o f Ind ia bears very

l it t le resem blance to the parod ies o f i t , f requent ly served in t he W est

today.

18- Cur ry is a peppery sauce m ade f rom a m ixture o f sp ices and t urm er ic pop ular seasonin g in India W orld Book D ict ionary Vol I by Claren ce L.Barnhart and Rober t K. Barnh art .


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19- Curr y is a sauce m uch used in India con tain ing red p eppe r and o th erst ro ng spices-Twent ie th Century D ic t ionary by Nona W ebster .

20- Curr y as t he w ord is used tod ay in India, sim ply m eans gravy - 50 GreatCurr ies of Ind ia by Cam ell ia Punja bi.

21- Cur ry is an Ind ian stew or hash f lavoured w i th t he leaves o f M urraya,the cur r y- leaf t ree and o t her ingred ients - The Indispensable Com peti t ion

Dict ionarycomp i led by the I l lustrat ed W eekly of India.

22- The Anglicized cur ry can be described as spiced sauce or o nio n sauce inw hich m eat , f i sh , pou l t ry e tc are cooked. The presence o f t u rm er ic gives a

par t icu lar odo ur and br ight co lour to the cur ry .

23- Cur ry o r cur r ie is a k ind o f Cond ime nt in t ro duced f rom Ind ia cont a in ingtu rm er ic, wh ich gives i t a yel low colour , curr y leaves, gar l ic, ginger, pepperand o th er spices

24- Curr y is a ste w - l ike dish of eggs, f ish, m eat or vegetables seasoned w i tha blend of spices -The W or ld Book Encyclopeadia -Vol IV.

25- Cur ry m eans kadh i -Brihad Hind i Kosh.26- Cur ry ' m eans conta in ing yoghur t and sp iced and m ade f ragrant -

Cooking for th e M aharajas.

27- Curr y is t he bl issfu l b lending of exot ic spices and dep endin g on t heblend, i t has a m i l l ion d i f feren t t astes. The f lavor and taste depen ds on h ow

the sp ices are perm eated and b a lanced and on th e amo unt used. S0 w e can

have cur r ies, delectab le spicy cur r ies as hot as Hades and as sub t le as

Socrates and as m i ld as M ay

28- The w or d curry o r ig inally denot ed a part icular k ind of seasonin g or d ishin cer ta in par ts o f t he countr y . I t i s cer ta in ly d i f fe rent f rom w hat i t has

com e to m ean. Used in th is sense, t he Indian cur r ies are as diverse as its

peop le .

29- The Du tch te rm fo r cu r ry is Kerri o r Kerrieand cur ry pow der f igures inDutch cooking.

30- Curry is der ived f rom th e Tam i l wo rd Karimean ing ka r i pa t t a or leaf anessent ia l i tem of the cur ry .

31- The Anglo- Indian Curr y is der ived fr om t he Tam i l wo rd Kar i a ter mused for t he b lack pep per K. T. Acharya in A Histo r ica l Dict ionar y of Indian

Food.

32- The Dutch t raveler o f t he 16t h

century rem arked - A sour t ast ing bro t hyf ish w i th r ice w as served. I t w as called carr iei l .


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33- Curry Pow ders denot ing a com m erc ia l ly pr epared m ixture o f sp ices, islarge ly a W estern not ion, dat ing in t he 18 t h century prepared by Ind ian

m erchants for sa le to m em bers o f t he Br it ish co lon ial governm ent and arm y

retur n ing to Br ita in .

34- Curry is pepper f lavoured sauce and is t he cor rupt ion o f th e Tam i l wo rdKari.

35- Som e are o f t he op in ion t hat th e Tam i l w ord Kar i denot es m eat , o t hersstat e i t is vegetables cooked , yet som e ot hers feel kar i refers t o a spice and

so o n and so for t h A lso t here is a v iew th at t he M alaya lis m ake a gravy

called kar i .

Having l isted so many opin ions given by several wr i ters, we shal l now

m ove ahead and f i nd ou t w ha t rea ll y is th e o r igin o f t he w ord cu r ry . From the

above v iew s we have l isted , one po in t becom es ver obv ious and that is even in

determ in ing the m eaning o f the Tam i l w ord Kar i , wr i te rs are a t var iance. Really

speaking, th is term curry has become very prevalent only in recent years after

Independence w i th Ind ia s a t te m pt t o boo st up to ur ism and ho te l ie r ing.

The local people never use the word curry and every region has i ts own

termino logy for i t and have never heard the word cur ry . . The genera l te rm

used by t he nat ives of India is Kadhi . In Tam i l , t he w or d fo r sauce is kuzam bu

and lent i l sauce is cal led Sambhar as named after the nephew of the erst-

w h i le M arath a ru ler o f Tan jore- Sam baj i Rao. . Pr ior t o h is ru le, Tam i l Nadu h adonly tam ar ind and yoghur t based sauces w hich w ere cal led kuzumbu b u t t h e

Deshastha Brahmins and the ru ler s tar ted mix ing th is tamar ind sauce wi th

cooked lent i ls or tu r da l and s tar ted naming i t Sambar to honour the ru le r s

nephew. The M aratha k i tchen had become em pty o f cocum , wh ich w as the

sour ing agen t used by t hem and w hen th e p rob lem came to the a t ten t ion o f

the ru ler , Sam baaji Rao, the you ng nephew of t he ru ler happened to be ther e

and suggested tamar ind could be used instead l ike the people of South India

and so the new var ie ty o f tamar ind sauce wi th tur da l was named af ter the

nephew. Tamarind sauce is Pul l i Kuzambu whi le yoghur t sauce is M or

kuzumbu. Even upt o t he t imes o f m y la te grandp arents in t he Tan jore Dist r ict

in the 1900s, th e w ord Vyan jana w as used in our ho usehold for the kuzum bu

and o the r i tems o f the m enu ..

In Telegu the term used is koora and lenti l sauce is Pulusu. In

M aharashtr a the term used is Aa m t i . The M uslim s call i t t he Salan, Qu o r m a

and Do Piaza. The Persians call it Nan-khurush . Iban Bata ta , the Arabian

w r i te r , w ho v isi ted Sr i Lanka or t he o ld Ceylon, wro te t hat t he nat ives a te cur ry

bu t he used the te rm Cochanand the m odern A rab ian te rm fo r t he cu r ry is Idaan . Hindus in M angalore cal l it Gushi .


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One of t he A i r - Ind ia pam phle ts gives the fo l low ing v iew of t he cur ry . It

took 4000 years to evolve the Indian system of cooking and th is v iew is a lso

shared b y Rupert Crofte Crooke in h is Cooking for Pleasure. How ever, since i t

is bel ieved that India has more than f i f teen tradi t ional cuis ines, i t is not very

clear as to w hich cuisine t h is refere nce is m ade to .

One fact b ecomes very clear w hen go ing thro ugh th e m any def in i t ions o f

the t erm cur ry and that is- that t he cur ry is simply no t o ne par t icu lar d ish . The

def in i t ions appear to be the descr ip t ions o f the observat ions made by those

fore igners who v is i ted the Or ient and so journed in Ind ia dur ing the Raj in

di f fer ent areas of t he coun tr y. So var ied are th e Easte rn regional curr ies.

Ind ia has been ca l led the land o f cur r ies or the bewi lder ing wor ld o f

curr ies. For thousands of years, India has been the home of the vegetar ian

foo d and the Hindus have been responsib le for deve lop ing one o f the w or ld sgreatest using of t he w or ld u sing cereals, pulse, r ice etc. wi t h great im aginat ion

and ski l l to produce a vast var iety of meatless curr ies. The non-vegetar ian

Hindus have also l ikewise developed a dist inct cuis ine based on the chicken

and the d ishes, based on the lamb, came in la ter on wi th the coming o f the

M usl im s.

As early as th e 2 nd centu ry A. D, th e Rajaval l i , an ar t ic le on diet , men tio ns

that the cur ry was in use. The Arthashastra of Kauti lya gives the recipes for

the cur ry to accom pany the r ice.Recipe 1- 27 ozs of meat p lus 27 ozs of spices are to be mixed wi th

insigni f icant quan t i t ies of f at , sal t , sugar and a m ere 10 ozs of curds.

Recipe 2- 20 palas of f lesh and kudcha of o i l qnd 1 pala sal t p lus 2

dharanas pungen t spices and prast ha of curds.

Yet another rec ipe was wi th the Rohi t f i sh , a meat soup was prepared

and eat en w i th Sal i r ice ( acc to Jain l i terat ure) .

There are also several references to the seasoned meat broth in the

Buddhist and Jain works. - The Brahmins were feasted on boi led or Sal i r ice,

pu lses f rom which the b lack specks had been sought and removed and

f lavoure d w i th m eat sauces, and cu rr ies or Vyanjanas of var ious kinds. ( Digh- I

p88 and H-I -5 ).

Kaut i lya ho lds th e v iew t hat t he quant i ty o f sp ices used in m eat shou ld be

equal to i t and ha l f the quant i ty fo r pot herbs. . For cook ing any vegetab les,

pepper shou ld be doub le the quant i ty . He added that b lack pepper is

agreeable to th e pa late w hi le wh i te pep per is less pungent .


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Th e M anaso llasa - an ar t ic le on d ie t o f t he 12 t h centu ry descr ibes t he ear ly

curry as made of sour gruel and wel l churned curds wi th spices such as rock

sal t , g inger, cor iander, cumin and black pepper and cooked to a th ick

consis tency. However , the term cur ry never seems to have been used.

Vyan jana, the Pralehaka, Kaai-Kari , Pul igari , Povikkaari , etc were used. In ourown home, my la te grandparents who be longed to the Brahmin pr iest ly c lass

of South India used the terms Vyanjana and Kaai Kar i etc. as late as the 19 t h

century .

Vyanjana w as the l i qu id p reparat ion m ade w i th the w a te r used to w ash

the r ice and tam ar ind, but term i lk, crysta l , cardamom s, pepper , g inger ju ice and

asafe t ida f um igat ion.

Th e Pralehaka w as m ade w i th curds and ju ices o f f r u i ts l i ke the t am ar ind

and t he po m egranate , m yroba lam s, c it ro n o r am lavesta a long w i th sp ices likecor iander, asafet ida, cumin, turmer ic, g inger, pepper and sal t . The fru i t ju ices

w ere m ixed in t he sp iced curds and cooked on sow f i re w i th som e o i l.

Yet ano ther d ish w as t he Surana, made w i th som e g inger , but t erm i lk, and

o i l and som e grue l was added a t t he end a f t er fum igat ion o f asafe t ida.

W e get an ins ight in t he vegetar ian preparat ions o f Sout h Ind ia f rom the

Ambasamudra Inscr ipt ions of Varaguna Pandya of the post per iod. These

preparat ions w ere Kaa i-Kari , Pul iga ri , Povikka ari . W hi le Kaai-Kar i w as prep ared

with vegetables and spices l ike mustard and pepper and sal t . Pul igar i washorse gram and raw p lanta in f ru i t cooked together in sp iced tamar ind pu lp .

Pul i in Tam i l mean s tam ar ind as wel l as sou r t aste .

Today t he general t erm fo r veget ables is Kaai-Kar i .

Pulikari w as bo i led cur ry or stew w hi le Povikkarr i w as f r ied cur ry .

Today t he te rm s used are Porialand Porr ichchakaar i fo r f r ied cur ry .

A preparat ion in w h ich vegetab les are cooked w i th Bengal gram or beans

w as general ly eaten in th e Sou th . Today t h is prep arat ion is called a koo to oo ra m ixtu re .

Tw o c lear featu res th at w e can no te in t hese ear ly preparat ion are-

36- Pepper w as ear l ier used in t he d ishes to g ive pungency, and i t is at rad i t ion w hich is st r ict ly adhered t o even t oday, in t he d ishes prepared o n

th e occasion of a deat h anniversary r i t uals or Shradd dam in Brahm in

hou seho lds. Bot h chi l l ies and asafo et id a are banned on t h is day as th ey are

considered to be o f fo re ign or ig in .


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How ever , M r A jay M erchant , ow ner o f La l jee Good hoo Asafoet ida f i rm ly

states that chi l l ies were known to India since ear l ier centur ies and he had

based h is in ference on a p a in t ing he had ob served a t t he Br i t ish M useum In

Lon don in w hich an Indian w om an is seen ho ld ing a plate w i th 3-4 chi l l ies. The

pain t ing is more than 1000 years o ld . Hence he re fu tes the vers ion o fPort uguese having brou ght red chi l lies int o India.

37- The curr ies of o ld had a curd base or w ere yoghur t sauces. Curd w asused t o im par t sour ness.

38- Kaut i layas recipes seem to be real ly very pu ngent .39- The ear l ie r cur r ies w ere d i f fe rent f rom th e cur r ies o f tod ay. There is no

evidence o f any fore ign in f luence f rom th e w est or Islam or M oglai

inf luen ce in t he ear l ier curr ies.

In h is book M eat fo r the m eat less , Ivan Baker w r i tes- W e are not

indebted to the Or ient fo r cur r ies. A ro l l o f rec ipes t i t led Forme of Cur r ie

w r i t t en by Henry Fond and o ther m aster coo ks o f Richard I I in 1390A. D. were

preserved and pub l ished in 1579 A. D. I t i s s ta ted that 200 cooks and some

phi losophers were summoned by K ing Richard I I to produce the Forme of

Curr ie and i t conta ined 190 rec ipes but there were nowhere l ike the Ind ian

cur r ies. These were not the typ ica l cur r ies o f the east , but , l i ke them were

strong ly sauts and ragouts enr iched and f lavoured wi th on ions and pepper .

Ear l ier in the west, curry was spel t as cur ie and la ter on curie and la ter oncurr ie and no w i t is spel t cur ry . This is very deb atable, but i t is qui te po ssib le

that the ear ly Europ ean t rave lers w ho cam e to Ind ia and t o t he Far East cam e

to learn o f t he eastern sp ices and t asted th e ear ly yoghur t sauce or cur r y and

w ent back w i th t he sp ices and t r ied to incorpo rate these sp ices in to t he i r ow n

broths and sauces which later on became ragouts. I t is qui te possib le that the

w ord cu r ry was know n to t he W est even be fo re the 14t h century and made i t a

14 t h centu ry d ish.

I t is also argued th at curry o r cury a l ready existed in t he Engl ish lexiconslong befo re th e Engl ish appeared in Ind ia in t he 17 t h cen tu ry and the te rm cu ry

was used to mean a stew. Also there is no logic or basis in c la iming that the

w o r d Kadhi i s t he or ig in o f t he w ord cur ry .

The yoghur t sauce d id not f ind favour w i th t he M uslim s and the w estern

powers who bu i l t the i r empi res in the Or ient . Onions and tomatoes rep laced

the yoghur t and grue ls o f t he o ld sauces and became f avor i te i tem s o f the Raj

era.

In the South India, s ince the Vedic t imes, the basis of sauces was ei thertamar ind pu lp or beaten yoghur t . Coconut mi lk was never used. When the


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Jew ish com m uni ty se t t led in Coch in , Kera la, they f used the i r cu isine w i th th at

of the locals. The Jews incorporated al l those spices which they traded in, in

their cuis ine- l ike black pepper, p ippal i pepper or long pepper, cardamoms,

cinnam on , cor iander a long w i th t hose w hich the locals used in t heir cuisine l ike

th e curry leaf or kar i pat ha, tu rm er ic, m ustard seeds and oi l and tam ar ind. AlsoJew ish laws forbade t he m ix ing o f m i lk wi t h m eat and so t he Jew s star ted th e

custo m of us ing coconut m i lk to m ake the i r sauces for t he i r p reparat ions and

when the Por tuguese in t roduced red ch i l i peppers in to Ind ia , they s tar ted

incorporat ing th is ingred ient as wel l in the i r d ishes and combined the

pungency o f b lack pepper , f resh green ch i ll i pepper and dr ied ground red ch i l li

peppers in their recipes.. And i t is f rom these Jewish dishes that the Engl ish

deve loped the i r vers ion o f t he Ind ian cur ry us ing coconut m i lk. Som e w r i te r on

food has asserted that the South Indian version of the Indian curry is far

super ior to those of North India not using coconut mi lk. The Engl ish converted

their stews and ragouts into the Indian curr ies using coconut mi lk, and used

to m ato es and sour l im e ju ice as th e sour ing agent s. Sout h India does not have

the techn ique o f f ry ing on ions and cur ry paste or cur ry powder e tc and then

adding meat o r vegetab les e tc to m ake the sauce but t he sp ices and m eat or

vegetab les are d i rect ly pu t in t o t he tam ar ind or yoghur t sauce and cooked and

at end poin t t he dish is seasoned w i th spices fr ied in a ladle of ho t o i l .

Here, a few w ords have to be sa id about th e er roneous v iews he ld about

the use of curry leaves in the curr ies. Curry leaves are and never were anessent ia l condiment of the Indian dishes. They are merely used for f lavor at

end po in t . Whi le they are used for the sambar , cor iander leaves are used for

t he rasam. I t i s not poss ib le to understand how cur r ies are made on ly wi th

cur ry leaves as the main ingred ient . I t wou ld then become cur ry leaves

chutney. Fore igners have many er roneous not ions about the Ind ian cu is ine.

Chutneys can be made wi th curry leaves, cor iander leaves or mint leaves or

o ther herbs but the cur ry lea f is def in i te ly not an essent ia l ingred ient o f the

curry nor is the onion or gar l ic. Vegetar ians in Rajasthan and Benaras make

tasty mouth-water ing d ish wi thout the use o f gar l ic or on ions. They areessent ia l in f ish meat d ishes to conceal bad odours. Also there is adul terat ion

in t he supply of curry leaves. The plant called curry is real ly no t an e dib le p lant

at a l l according t o Art hur . B Tucker and Thom as DeBaggie in th eir Big Book of

Herbs. He l ichrysum / He l ichrysum Aust i fo l ium is the herb commonly so ld as

the cur r y p lant a t the garden centres by w el l-meaning nurser ies. Though i t has

a warm cur ry- l ike f ragrance yet i t i s b i t te r in taste and th is p lant is prone to

funga l prob lems, web w orm s and o t her pests. So o ne has to be very care fu l in

using t he curr y leaf.


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I t i s very confoun d ing how lexicons and w r i te rs have em phat ica lly sta t ed

that the or ig in o f the cur ry is the Tami l cur ry . The Tami l d ic t ionary g ives the

fo l low ing meanings for the Tami l w ord Kar i.

Kari m eans-

1- Vegetab les f i t to chew and eat .2- Flesh-m eat and vegetables.3- Pepper here em phasis is on the pungency o f the pepper .4- Kaari also m eans charcoal

To t he Brahm ins of Tam i l Nadu, kar i mean s raw vegetables and in general

kar i is kaai- kar i for raw fresh vegetables in general . Kaai Kar i would mean

Vegetables. Kari also means stirred fr ied spiced vegetables used as side dishes

to be eaten a long wi t h r ice and sam bar or rasam.. Com ing to t he m eat eat ing

com m uni t ies o f Sout h Ind ia , Kar i is th e genera l co l loqu ia l te rm for f lesh. W e

frequent ly hear the lower communi ty o f servants and cooks remark ing - I am

going to th e bazaar to b uy Kar i w h ich can m ean the lam b, ch icken or pork o r

beef. I t is a general te rm . They also rem ark- I cooked karr i to day or m ade Kar i

kuzumbu .

Th is now makes i t c lear that the term cur ry i s born out o f the

m isunderstand ing that arose bet w een th e loca l cooks o f Sout h Ind ia and t he i r

Engl ish memsahibs. because of their inabi l i ty to understand each other slanguages. This is very simi lar to the dia logue between the King and the

messenger in Al ice in Wonder land where the king asks the messenger Did

anybody on the road run faster than you? To th is the messenger answers

Nob od y ran faster t han m e, you r Highness. . To t h is th e king shou ts and o rder s

Cu t o f f h is head since No bo dy co u ld ru n fast er t han h im ! Th is is a f al lacy

created because the term Nobo dy is used to m ean mor e than one th ing a t a

t ime. -This in Logic is cal led a fa l lacy due to the change in the Universe of

Discourse of a term. . In a d ia logue, a term must have the same Universe of

Discourse or m ean the same th ing at a t im e. .

This is the same that has transpired between the foreign mistresses and

cooks. The Engl ish memsahib took kar i to mean the cooked spices, sauce or

ragout as is very evident fro m th e def in i t ion given by Surgeon General Bal four

on the or ig in o f the word cur ry as the nursery rhyme Ka i veesoo paappaa

Kaiveesoo, Kadai ku pogalaam, Kaiveesoo- Which means Let us go to the

bazaar, l i t t le one, sw ing your arm s, let us go t o t he m arket t o bu y Kaar i , sw ing

your arms . There cannot be any o ther exp lanat ion for the or ig in o f the word

Curry . Som e ear l ie r t ravel ler and w r i te r gave h is v iew th at t he t am i l wo rd kar iis the or ig in o f the word cur ry out o f ignorance o f the Tami l language and


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Ind ian w r i te rs and som e lex icons b lind ly fo l low ed su i t and gave the sam e v iews

and o thers fo l lowed the ear l ie r v iews b l ind ly . The Engl ish took up the term

curry w hich became t he stan dard dish served in t he M i l i tary m esses and al l

Rai lway stat ions. This term travel led al l over the Far East and today has

becom e a globa l te rm and yet t he term is unheard o f in Ind ia and t he locals donot use i t .

I t w as Hobson-Jobson w ho m ade the o bservat ion in h is lexicon t hat cur ry

is der ived f rom th e Tam i l w ord kar i but la ter on a lso added i t i s possib le t hat

the k ind o f cur ry eaten by the European and M oham m edans, is not o f pur e

Ind ian or ig in but has com e dow n f rom the sp iced cookery o f m edieval Europ e

and Western As ia . Hobson er roneously der ived the or ig in o f the cur ry as the

Tami l kar i f rom an er roneo us t ranslat ion o f a passage f rom the M ahavanso

date d 171 A. D. The t ranslat ion by Turno ur f rom t he or ig inal Pal i language readhe par t o o k o f r ice d resse d w it h it s f u ll acco m pan im en t o f cu r r ie s- bu t in f act

the Pal i language in w hich i t w as w r i t t en never even used t he w ord cur ry but

the term supa . But the er ror s tuck on and subsequent wr i te rs and lex icons

simp ly quote t he same v iew and i t on ly to day that som e educated Tami l Ind ian

fo odies have star ted p ro test in g against t h is v iew .

Som ebody has sta ted th at t he or ig in o f th e Curry is th e s tu f f o f legends.

The Br i t ish term cur ry has come to mean a lmost any d ish whi le most peop le

f rom the sub-con t inen t wou ld s ta te empha t i ca l l y tha t cu r ry i s no t a word

which they use, but i f they d id use i t then i t wou ld mean a meat , f i sh or

vegetable w i th spicy sauce and r ice or bread .

Cur ry is the greatest contr ibu t ion to mankind sa id Norman Douglas, a

Br i t ish Novel ist . Cr i t ics v iew the curry as insip id yel low powder that is turned

in to a f loury , ye l low cream y sauce! . Th is is one o f t he m ost in t r igu ing theor ies

about the ancestry of the Curry according to Capt. Basi l Hal l a traveler to

India, Ceylon an d Borneo in 1930.

I t comes as a surpr ise to most people old Indians including, to learn that

th e dish w hich is called curry is not in India, nor is indeed of Asiat ic or ig in at a l l .

Som e fe l t t ha t t he Por t uguese had in t rodu ced i t in t o Ind ia since it i s be l ieved

genera l ly that th ey in t ro duced red ch i li pepper in t o Ind ia .

Curr y l ike spice m ixtur es date b ack to at least 4, 000B. C. ( excavat ion of

ancient c i t ies o f Harappa and M ohenjo -daro ) . Gr ind ing Sto nes w ere fou nd in

the si tes contain ing traces of mustard, cumin, fennel , saffron, tamar ind ( a l l

th ese spices are used in curr ies. ) So w e assum e t hat th e Indu s Val ley peo ple

were cooking wi th curry spices 6000 years back ! So th is f inding makes i t

appear that the Indus Val ley peop le are to be considered as the f i rst gourm etsand creat ive coo ks in h isto ry and th eir spices and seasonin gs have cont inued t o


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be used by a l l those who came af ter them. Dishes o f h igh ly sp iced meat

unearthed from the Indus Val ley-2600 B. C. a lso have been recorded. Dishes

using fenne l , mustard , cumin and tamar ind were used in the Vedic per iod -

1700-500 B. C

Ath enaens, a Greek miscel lanist of A. D. 200 w rot e in h is Deipo noshista i -

The Gastronomes, a fascinat ing survey of c lassi f ied food and habi ts quotes

M egasthenes the 3 rd century author o f Ind ica- Among the Ind ians a t a

banquet, a table is set before each indiv idual and on the table is p laced a

golden dish, in w hich is f i rst p laced boi led r ice and th en t hey add m any sort s of

meat dressed after the Indian fashion. . According to Athenaens, the Indian

fash ion has sparked o f f m ost o f the cur r y contr oversies because som e w r i te rs

and cooks be lieve t he Ind ian fash ion o f cur ry has been s to len and r u ined by the

rest of the wor ld, especia l ly the Engl ish. Some also feel that the not ion isstupid as cooking cont inues to evolve as the wor ld shr inks. Though the

Por t uguese, Dutch and t he French w ere in Ind ia yet o n ly t he Engl ish adop ted

the cur ry m ay be because England had a t r ad i t ion o f t he cur ry a l l a long.

I t is in terest ing to n ot e that t he ear liest kno w n for t he rec ipe for m eat in

spicy sauce wi th bread appeared on Tablets found near Babylon in

M esopot amia, in cune iform text d iscovered by Sum er ians dated 1700 B. C. -

probab ly as an o f fer ing to God M arduk.

By 3, 500 B. C. turm er ic, cardam om s, pepp er and m ustard w ere harvestedin Ind ia. -Code o f M anu

In the Food History -1973 by R, Tannhi l l - the recipe is mentioned from

the Code o f M anu-

25 ozs. o f m eat and sp ices to be m ixed w i th ins ign if icant quant i t ies o f fa t ,

sal t , sugar and a m ere 1 0 and ozs of curd s.

In 1000 B. C. the Ramayana gives the recipe for a sauce redolent wi th

cardamo m s, cum in, c loves, b lack pepper an d salt spread o ver r ice.

A Dutch t rave ler in the 16 t h century m ent ions that som e tasty bro t hy f ish

is served w i th f ish. I t is cal led carr ie l .

A l l these f ind ings have led to these m ul t i t ud ianous def in it ions and be l iefs

about the or ig in and character o f the cur ry and no two wr i te rs ever agree. In

the long run the 20 t h century the cur ry mani festa t ion , meat and vegetab le

stews f lavoured wi th curry powders is essent ia l ly a Br i t ish curry. However, in

M odern Ind ia , cur ry pow ders have com e to stay because o f the p rob lem s

caused by urban izat ion. Restaurants a l l over today make noth ing but on ly

curr ies, and spice traders grow r icher in making their regional and pr ivatebrands o f cur ry ,


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Til l the 16 t h century A. D. the t rad i t iona l cur ry used no ch i l l ies but on ly

pepper. The avai labi l i ty of cayenne and chi l i powder from Tropical America

tu rned t o be t he m i lesto ne in the evo lu t ion o f t he cur ry , These are the sear ing

ingred ients that g ive character t o ho t cur r ies. The M uslim s w ho t raded in

spices used them in a l l these dishes in their cooking and developed newtechniques of cooking which became the hal l -mark of Persian haute-cuisine.

Later on when they invaded Ind ia , they brought a long wi th them a l l the new

techn iques and new sp ices and deve loped t he M oghlai cu is ine w hich he lped

later o n in t he creat ion o f the r ich Anglo- Ind ian cu isine. The em ployees o f the

Coy w ere very in f luenced by the sp lendor o f t he M oghlai cour t and

incorpo rated t hese techniques to d evelop t he East Ind ia Coy cuisine.

Curr ies of t he Nor th are t h ick in consisten cy as th ey are eate n w i th b reads

but the cur r ies o f t he Sout h are th in and w atery as they are eaten w i th r ice . Inthe ear l ie r days, the f ore igners m ade a ll sor ts o f s ta tem ents about Ind ians and

the i r h ab i ts out o f sheer ignorance o f t he loca l cu l tu re . One Engl ishm an w ho

so journed in the Or ient s ta ted that tu rmer ic is a cu l t in the East . Eat ing

tu rm er ic as an ingred ient in cur r ies and app ly ing turm er ic to t he fo rehead are

ent i re ly tw o d i f fe rent m at t ers. Turm er ic is app l ied to t he forehead by marr ied

Hindu w om en on good o ccasions because i t is pur ely a Satt v ic pro duct an d has

healing proper t ies. Turm er ic paste is app l ied a t the th resho ld o f t he ent rance

in the vi l lage homes as i t has the property of repel l ing snakes and rept i les. I t

heals skin d iseases. And appl ied on t he fo rehead o n t he chakra spo t i t pro tect sw om en f ro m be ing obsessed by bad ne gat ive ent i t ies. But i t i s def in i te ly not a

cul t as stat ed.

Diehards f i rmly be l ieve that a t rue cur ry must be ground on the o ld

gr inding stone. The electr ical b lenders and mixers have brought about a

revo lu t ion and w ork ing wo m en f ind th is a great boon t oday and sav ing o f t im e

and labour . Good cur r ies can be made wi th e lect r ic b lenders. Wi th the

avai lab i li ty o f ready- m ade sp ice b lends w hich f lood t he m arkets , housewives

no longer prepare sp ice pow ders for the w hole year in la rge amo unt s. It i s notknow n ho w com m on, genu ine cur ry s tones were in t he Engl ish k itchens in la te

19 t h century but the genera l in terest in cur r ies and inst ruct ions in the above

recipe, suggest that they were not unknown. Daniel Sant iagoe, a general

servant in h is boo k The Cur ry Cook s Assista nt or Cur r ies-How to m ake them in

England , goes on to add that cookery books o f the t ime catered to the great

in terest in cur r ies and one in par t icu lar m akes m uch o f t he use o f cur r y sto nes

to g r ind one s ow n cu r ry pow der .

Dr. Ki tchn er in h is boo k The Coo ks Oracle, t hr i l l ingly subt i t led a col lect ion

of rece ip ts fo r p lain cook ing, th e m ost econom ica l p lan fo r pr iva te fam i l ies and


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a complete system of cooking for Cathol ic fami l ies. However, h is curr ies were

now here near t he Indian curr ies. Richard Sainth i l l t he aut hor of Al l Ol la Podr i ta

once had a discussion on Ki tchner an d t he real Indian curr y w i th M m e Soyers,

wi fe of Alex Soyers. She remarked Both as a eater and maker of curr ies, I

af f i rm that in my nine years residence in India, never have I tasted or saw acurry l ike Dr. Ki tchner s Curry. Every chef makes his own recipe for the curry

and probab ly they are so concocted as to be su i tab le for be ing impor ted to

Lon don . These curr ies are to o t urm er ic heavy sui t ing Engl ish t astes but not of

use in Ind ia. Dr Ki tchner has missed t he m ain im por t ant ingred ient o f t he cur ry

and that is gar l ic wh ich when incorporated makes i t the authent ic rec ipe. In

th is connect ion i t shou ld be ment ioned that the f i rs t cur ry powder was taken

to England by army off icers and civ i l servants and curry powder was then a

cottage industry in India. By 1830 A D. Indians star ted going to England as

stu dent s, m aids, cooks, nur ses et c and inf luen ced the fo od t here.

In 1741, one Hannah Glasse wrote The Ar t o f Cookery-How to make

cur ry the Ind ia way . In th is book she gave the rec ipe for a supposed typ ica l

Ind ian cur ry . Th is w as t he f i rst d ocum ented rec ipe for th e cur ry and i t became

very popu lar and s tar ted genera l in terest in the cur ry . How ever , her rec ipe has

been cr i t i c ized and her in terpre ta t ion o f the cur ry seems to be more l ike a

gent le arom at ic stew and w as not h ing l ike the rea l Ind ian cur ry I t w as a stew of

fow ls or rabb i t us ing who le cor iander seeds and b lack pepper bu t later on in

her 4t h

edi t ion she added g inger and tu rm er ic in her rec ipe.

A rec ipe fo r t he cur ry by Step hen M alco lm Chicken Topper f ie ld p lus

Curry-pow der ; w as m ore re f lect ive o f the Ind ian cur ry .

Cury is an old English word used to describe English cuisine and has

not h ing to do w i th Ind ian cur r ies. Cur rey is rat her t he precursor t o Curry used

to descr ibe Ind ian cur r ies. The w ord Curry evo lved f ro m the o ld Eng lish w ord s

Cury and Currey. . An exp lanat ion o f the word goes back to the 13 t h cen tu ry

w i th t he invas ion o f T imu r t he Lam e. Th is w as responsib le for th e M usl im

inf luence in the cooking techniques of Indian cuisine. The introduct ion ofbut te r , sauces, cream m eats and such del icacies w i th nu ts and dat es led to t he

m odern d ishes like the Korm a, But ter -ch icken, Dum pkt s ty les o f cook ing. Som e

Anglo- Indian dishes are der ived from the Br i t ish cuis ine-Roast Beef was

Indianised by the addi t ion of Indian style spices l ike cloves and red chi l l ies. -

Fish and m eat cur r ies w ere g iven fo rm by t he add i t ion o f Ind ian vegetab les and

th e use of cocon ut , yoghurt , a lm on ds. Roasts and curr ies, r ice dishes and b read

al l have a dist inct ive f lavor in the opin ion of an Anglo- Indian wr i ter Jani le

Gavin.


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In 1612, some Engl ish merchants attended a state d inner party g iven by

Empero r Jehang i r i n wh ich they were se rved w i th Dumpkt fow l s tew made

with butter , spices, a lmonds and ra is ins etc and th is d ish was very simi lar to

th e Engl ish pie d escr ibed b y one Gevase M arkham . t i t led The Engl ish Hu s-w i fe.

M any fo r the i tem s used in the Dum pkt f ow l stew w ere in use in Eng land fo rcentur ies before King Richard I . Cooks in better-off k i tchen used ginger,

c innamon, nutmeg, c love, gal ingal , cubebs, cor iander seed, cumin seeds,

cardamoms and an iseeds. They even formula ted the i r own brands o f cur ry

powders as Powder Fort ( strong spices). Powder Douce ( sweet spices ) and

Pow der B lanche(w hi te po w der) and th is is wh y the Engl ish m erchants misto ok

the Dum pkt fow l stew fo r t he Ind ian cu r ry.

Curry po w der rec ipes o f M rs Beeton , inc lud ing th at by Dr Ki tchner w ere

b land stew s Beeto n ised by add ing cur ry pow der in 1861.The Br i t ish version o f t he Indian curry w as th eir Engl ish ragout s convert ed

int o spices sauces w i th th e addi t ion o f t he Indian spices by Indian coo ks. In the

preparat ion o f t he cur ry , t he Br i t ish d id no t l i ke to coo k the cur ry in tam ar ind

sauce or yoghurt as was done by the locals in South India. Here we f ind an

in terest ing factor th at in f luences th e Br i t ish cur ry . The Jew s who had m igra ted

and set t les on Kerala faced a prob lem in m aking their curr ies w i th spices.. The

w ere in f luenced by the loca l cu isine and t r ied t o adapt t o loca l cond i t ions, but

they f ound i t d i f f i cu l t to use m i lk or yo ghur t in th e i r d ishes as th e i r Kosher law s

banned mix ing o f mi lk and meat and so they h i t upon the idea o f making

coconut m i lk the base of t heir d ishes and t he Br i t ish in Kerala fo l low ed sui t and

soon the Br it ish cur r ies o f Sout h Ind ia w ere cooked in coconut m i lk.

In recent years much w ork h as been do ne on sp ices and t he i r e f fects on

th e hu m an bo dy. Research in several count r ies has given star t l ing resul ts w hich

em phasise the fact t hat fo od shou ld not be eaten w i tho ut sp ices. Since W . W.

II spices have gained populari ty in the U. S. Highly spiced food from Asia, Latin

Am er ica , and M edi ter ranean count r ies are get t ing popu lar because o f the

dem and fo stered b y serv icem en and t our is ts.

Recent research w ork done o n sp ices have been und er taken in count r ies

l ike Germ any, Russia, and India. Ear l ier , th e Gita, only stressed on th e f lavours

and palatabi l i ty of spices, but today the stress is on nutr i t ion and scient ists

ho ld t he v iew th at sp ices prov ide a ll tha t t he hum an body needs to be hea lth y.

Even up to the 19 t h century , f ie rce debates were on about the

w holesom eness o f t he cur ry . In t he 18 t h and 19 t h centu r ies, f lavouran ts l ike th e

c innam on, bay leaves, nutm eg, van i lla pods were favoured by t he W est w h i le

pun gent spices l ike chi l l ies were p ro hib i t ed as i t w as bel ieved t hey gave r ise togastro- intest inal problems. Yet one Captain W. White, p ioneer of Sel im curry


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paste, hyped on the medicinal values of spices as highly d igest ive, ant i -

spasm odic , ant i -f la tu lent , soot h ing and inv igora t ing t o t he sto m ach and bow els

but he cr i t ic ized the Br i t ish heavy-handedness wi th chi l l i pepper and cayenne,

and observed that since th e 18 t h century cur r ies have been get t ing hot ter and

hot ter w i th ch i ll ies predom inat ing

In order to have a sc ient i f i c op in ion on th e sub ject o f sp ices on t he hu m an

body and hea l th , system at ic stu d ies w ere com m enced a f ter 1955 b y Schneider

Deluce and Grey. They concluded that sp ices when ingested wi th food were

harm less. The Russian Inst i tu te o f Gero nt olo gy or t he Science of Decadence as

a resu l t o f i ts research came t o t he conclusion t hat d ie ts shou ld not be w i thou t

spices lest t here should b e a lack of pro du ct ion o f d igest ive ju ices in th e bod y.

The latest innovations of the Spice Board of India is spice essences coriander

essence, cumin essence etc. but th is concept has not yet taken roots. A fewdrops of the essence is added to the sauce and the curry is ready! This

innovat ion w i l l take a long t im e, if a t a ll , to r ep lace the t rad i t iona l use o f sp ices

in m aking curr ies as i t is next t o im possib le to break a tradi t ional centu r ies o ld.

M ay be o th er count r ies in the W est m ay respond f avorab ly to t he idea o f us ing

spices in essence form but India is rat her very t radi t ional about her recipes. !

Documents

Oriental Curry by Sarasvati Dias