Who would’ve imagined Madras curry powder would eventually turn out to be one of England’s best-loved spice mixes?

Comprising humble ingredients such as turmeric, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek, black pepper, red chillies and others, the spice blend first travelled all the way to London from Fort St. George in Madras.

According to ‘Notes from Madras’ by Arthur Robert K. Wyvern, Madras curry powder (as well as mulligatawny paste) was first sold by Barrie’s in Leicester Square. By corollary, any dish that included the above-mentioned curry powder was duly named as ‘Madras’ something.

In the 1890s, P.V. Condiments’ brand of curry powder became famous in England thanks to a Mr. Sharwood. So famous that even the Buckingham Palace purchased it from them.

Believed to have originated from the Tamil word kari meaning sauce or relish, the frangrant Madars curry powder now has many variations.

Chennai Central at The Hindu celebrates Madras Week

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Apoorva Sripathi / Chennai – August 19th, 2013