Curry may have been introduced to south-east Asia 2,000 years ago, suggest scientists who have unearthed the earliest known evidence of the dish’s preparation in the region.
Analysing plant remains from 12 ancient stone grinding tools found in Óc Eo, southern Vietnam, researchers discovered traces of rice and turmeric, ginger, fingerroot, sand ginger, galangal, clove, nutmeg and cinnamon.
“We discovered a wide variety of spices that had travelled from different locations to Óc Eo,” said Dr Hsiao-chun Hung of the Australian National University, who led the excavation and research. “All of these spices reached Vietnam 2,000 years ago, contributing to the creation of delightful dishes that must have been enjoyed by the people of that time.”
The researchers were “rather surprised” to discover that nutmeg seeds they had excavated at the site were still aromatic two millennia later.
Starch grains from turmeric and ginger were the most abundant of the eight spices discovered at the site. “These starch grains display broken features, indicating that they were likely ground, similar to the starch granules found in modern curry powder,” Hung said.
Scientists excavated the stone implements, including mortars and pestles, between 2017 and 2019, finding them to be south Asian in origin. It led the researchers to conclude that curry recipes were introduced to south-east Asia by south Asian migrants or visitors during early trade contact via the Indian Ocean.
A key artefact, a large footed grinding slab found with ancient starch grains of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg on its surface, is similar to those traditionally used for preparing curry paste today, the researchers say.
Hung said the site of Óc Eo was believed to have been a major port city in the ancient kingdom of Funan, dating from the first to seventh century AD.
“Before this study, we had only limited clues from ancient documents in India, China and Rome about the early spice trades,” she said. “This research is the first to confirm that these spices were indeed traded commodities that existed within the global maritime trading networks nearly 2000 years ago.”
Archaeological evidence suggests that curry originates from India more than 4,000 years ago, where spice traces, eggplant and mango have been found attached to human teeth and in cooking pots.
The research was published in the journal Science Advances.
The study’s first author is Weiwei Wang, a PhD candidate at ANU.
