Oldest Curry Believed To Be From Southeast Asia With Evidence Going Back 2,000 Years

Finding the geographical location of the origins of a culinary dish can be hard, especially for something as widely celebrated as curry. However, researchers have found new evidence going back 2,000 years, giving a better picture of what its original recipe might have looked like.

Curry in Southeast Asia

According to Science Alert, the world of today makes it difficult for people to imagine what it was like for spices not to exist. This comes as it has never been easier for people to import and export important ingredients for different cuisines to the comforts of one's home.

Nowadays, it's easy to bring in ingredients from India, China, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and even Vietnam to the comforts of one's home. Aside from them becoming more available to global retailers, they can also be shipped directly to consumers.

A recent Science Advances paper shows a report of the findings of what could be regarded as the oldest curry in Southeast Asia. The new details are considered the oldest evidence of curry that was found outside of the dish's most popular location, India.

Curry in Southern Vietnam

Smithsonian Mag reports how a 200-year-old cookbook was discovered by British monks, which contained a curry recipe. The recipe was brought by the Portuguese to Europe upon their colonization of India.

Researchers dug further and they found eight unique spices used in curry. Science Alert reports that these spices came from different sources originally, and some of them would have been transported thousands of miles across the sea.

The research was done in southern Vietnam's Oc Eo archaeological complex. Although they initially didn't intentionally try to investigate curry, they were still able to find out more about this recipe.

Initially, the research focused on "pesani," a set of grinding tools which were used by the Funan kingdom most likely on their spices. While investigating the spice trade, they were able to stumble upon interesting information regarding curry's original recipe.

Spice Investigation

The researchers investigated spices, starch grains to be exact, and found 29 separate dates from the charcoal and wood of all 40 tools they analyzed, which also provided a range of spices they suspect were used in early iterations of the recipe.

Science Alert reports that it was long known that the global spice trade links closely to Asian, African, and European economies and cultures. When it came to curry, they discovered how it had a fascinating history beyond India.

The main discovery related to curry was a recipe used in Vietnam today, which had a little deviation from the original recipe coming from the ancient Oc Eo period. This was due to the use of components like coconut milk, cloves, turmeric, and cinnamon.

The discovery of the original curry recipe was a byproduct of the study's original intention to find out more about the spice trade.

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