The Curry Connection

The most interesting thing about the word curry is its origin. The debate on the origins of the word has never really died down, though most people agree that the word curry and indeed, the concept of curry comes from a South Indian word - Kari, meaning spiced sauces, in India's most antiquated language alive, Tamil.

The origins of Tamil are prehistoric and it is one of the oldest surviving proofs of Dravidian culture being the mainstay in the Indian subcontinent before Aryan dominance took over the peninsula; the birth of the word is as purely Indian as it can get. In fact if it was derived from Sanskrit, it would be relatively much younger, hence, as some scholars would like it, be debatable in origin, since Sanskrit was the language of the Aryans, the invaders on Indian soil. Keeping history apart, it would be good to know that curry then, is uniquely Indian in nature. Of course, the Middle Eastern and Arabic culture also has spicy sauces in which meats have been dunked, to be eaten with a bread of sorts. In fact the earliest known reference to what we now call curry is found in Cuneiform text on clay tablets in the Mesopotamian civilization near Babylon, dated about 1700 BC, and was discovered by Sumerians.

But what goes for curry today is the Anglicized version of Indian food. It seems to be one of the Jewels in the crown that the Raj managed to take back to their country after leaving their favorite colony. In short, this delicacy became popular in the West during and after the Raj period of roughly two hundred years.

However, for the sake of research, there are evidences that the word and even the concept of curry was prevalent in Europe even before colonization of the East started. In fact, almost two centuries before white merchants started coming to India. There are a number of historic instances supporting this too. Accounts of a Dutch traveler in 1598 talk about a dish called carriel with a similar base. A seventeenth century Portuguese cookbook also talks about a chili based curry powder called caril.

In the era of Richard I, well-to-do English kitchens were already acquainted with Eastern and exotic spices like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, aniseed, nutmeg, ginger, cumin and coriander. In fact, in the late thirteenth century, in the reign of Richard II, when the first real English cookery book was written, it included works of culinary art. The king employed 200 cooks, and with the help of some others, these cooks wrote a book called "The Forme of Curry. The first reference to the word curry in western culinary documents appears in this book, but it was derived from the French word 'cuire' which meant - to cook- boil or grill. The word cuisine' also appears to be derived from the same source.

Thus we can assume that when, in the beginning of the sixteenth century English merchants landed in Surat, the curry was already two hundred years old back in England. In fact most of the cooking methods and spices that were used in the royal Moghal kitchens to prepare a special meal for the white guests, were already in use in rich English kitchens for quite some time, having traveled to Europe through the spice route of traders...the same men who took cotton and muslin, silks and aromatics from Asia to Europe.

However, curry became the symbol of Asia and Asians in Europe only after an enterprising restaurateur worked hard to give it the recognition it deserved. It was only in the 1980s that a handful of Indian restaurants served curries that caught the fancy of western foodies made it a household name, a favorite eat out and take away item and added color to the western concept of Indian food.

The truth is that a very large part of what goes as Indian curry, especially in Great Britain is a motley mix of cuisines, most it is not prepared by Indians, and almost all of it will be unrecognizable to any Indian home. Most Balti cuisine restaurants are Pakistani in nature and anyway, most cooks of this so-called Indian curry are Bangladeshi in origin, so it actually gives a united color to this part of the world and clubs it under one umbrella term, Indian. The credit goes to some Chefs who have happily adapted their cooking and food to the market needs, in the process, sometimes even compromising on the authenticity of the cuisines, at other times, doing away with it altogether.

The real Indian curry is a wonder of coordination, and uses the precise spices that make a balanced dish and is not skewed heavily in favor of chilies, as most international curry fans like to believe. Each single spice that goes into making the curry powder has a specific role in aiding digestion, toning the digestive system and helping in absorption of just the right nutrients from the food.

The curry powder as such can be made with just three spices, or a more elaborate list. What matters is the seasonings that go with this powder. According to the basic Ayurvedic recommendations, seasoning could be cumin seeds (whole or roasted and ground), turmeric powder, coriander powder, ginger powder or slices, fennel seeds, fenugreek, black peppers-crushed, asafetida and mustard seeds. Some areas also use nigella seeds and bay leaf as the basic seasoning. Adding curry powder to meats or vegetables does not make a curry, it is the seasoning that makes it. Among these ingredients, cumin and mustard are warming herbs, stimulating overall digestion. Fennel seeds are cooling in nature and also stimulate digestion. Turmeric is the best antiseptic known to man, and also an excellent blood purifier. Fenugreek has a rich concentration of Vitamin B and folic acid and is used for reproductive disorders. Even for healthy bodies, it stimulates blood and hair follicle development, helps fight against chronic infections and tone the body. Coriander alleviates flatulence while black pepper stimulates appetite and is rich in chromium, fighting any tendencies to diabetes. So in a curry, each seasoning and each ingredient has a specific role to play- which may not be only to serve up a marketable product.

Curry powder usually available off the shelf may consist of turmeric, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, five spice powder (cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, bay leaf and cumin), with red chili powder and salt. This can be safely made at home, with the emphasis on its chili content being variable. Of course, this would change with the season, reason, region, occasion, and the veggie or meat to be cooked.

When a curry is being cooked, one has to start with the seasoning, then add the vegetables or meats, and then add the curry powder. In fact, one would find the famous curry powder in very few Indian kitchens. This is because all the dishes do not use all the spices. Apart from that different regions use different spices for each food item. Fish in the East is made with mustard seeds, green chilies and ginger paste, while in the backwaters of Kerala, it is made with coconut oil, mustard seeds and red chili powder. So it is actually impossible to have a uniform curry powder to be added to anything to make a curry.

But happily, the western culture has united all of India and also it neighboring countries into one large curry loving and curry cooking area.