The story of curry and how Bunny chow got it got its name
South African bunny chow (recipe below) The next time you order your favourite curry, you might well be surprised to know that you’re not
just satiating a craving—you’re tasting a bit of ancient culinary
history. Interestingly, there is no such word as ‘curry’ in any of India’s
many languages. So what exactly is ‘curry’? And when and where did it
originate? As for the origins of the word ‘curry’, it remains disputed. In his book, The Oxford Companion to Food, historian Alan Davidson credits it to the Tamil word kari, “or spiced sauce, which was originally a thin, soup-like, spiced dressing served in southern India” On the other hand, food historian Lizzie Collingham traces it to Portuguese-ruled Goa of the early 1500s. In her book Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors, Collingham explains that the words kari or caril likely referred to “a spiced dish of sautéed vegetables and meat.”. In fact, there is a recipe for kari in a 16th-century Portuguese cookbook on royal banquets written…
