The use of spice can be traced to as far back as the very birth of civilization in the Indus Valley. So entwined are the two, that in fact none can accurately distinguish its earliest emergence. From its rich aromas, tantalizing tastes to the vibrant spectrum of colors; not to mention many curative properties, spices were exploited in every way imaginable.

Traders who took spices with them on their travels found that these spices did not just serve to enhance local foods, but was quite a commodity on their own. Soon these exotic spices became the main commodity, and were held in such reverence that they were often used as a sacred offering to appease the gods. As its trade flourished and spread into neighboring lands, their aromas and tastes found their way into the Royal Courts of Europe, via the bustling Egyptian port of Alexandria. Archaeological excavations have unearthed peppercorns of South Indian origin dating back to the first century in Egypt. Peppercorns of the same vintage have similarly been discovered as far as Germany.

With such high value was spice treasured in the west that soon expeditions were dispensed from every corner of Europe in its search, and the colonization of the East commenced.

Though its origins may be disputed, a curry is described as a zesty veggie, poultry, meat or seafood dish soaked in rich, mouth-watering gravy of blended spices. This traditionally Indian dish has been so globally received that one of its many variations, Chicken Tikka Masala, has been named the British National dish. While it may seem unusual for the British to so readily adopt a resolutely foreign dish as their own, they may have some valid claim to the first mention of the term 'curry'.

During the reign of Richard I (1189 - 1199 AD), a revolution of highly spiced cooking incorporating a 'powder fort', 'powder douce' and 'powder blanch', along with a host of other spices became essentials in the better-off kitchens of the land. His namesake Richard II brought together over 200 cooks and philosophers to produce a great work of 196 recipes called 'The Forme of Cury'; 'cury' being the Old English derivative of the French 'cuire' - to cook, boil, grill - hence cuisine. This would be the first real English cookery book, completed in 1390, over 200 years before the English first set foot on Indian shores.

Though Indians of northern heritage may ascribe curry's origins to a gravy dish called 'khadi', most pundits however accept the source to be the Tamil word 'kari' meaning a spicy sauce or gravy.

The earliest recorded recipe for a similarly described dish appeared in cuneiform text on tablets dating back to 1700 BC discovered near Babylon in Mesopotamia, an active trade partner of the ancient Indus Valley civilization. This civilization, one of the world's oldest has been reported to date back to the time of the great civilizations of Egypt and Sumer (circa 3000 BC) , though far outlasting them. Its highly sophisticated populace; said to be of Dravidian origin, are credited with building some of the largest, most complex, mathematically-planned cities of the ancient world.

Could curry therefore owe its great popularity and origin to a 5000 years old Dravidian civilization, the last lingering memory of its sophistication and ingenuity?