Fried Curry

Exploring Northern Curry: tarkāri 

Notes by Jana Fortier

The term tarkāri has come up in class a few times. Let's look at its origins before moving into some of the many interesting kinds of this food and its cultural dimensions. The word is not found in Sanskrit, and it likely developed sometime later, perhaps composed of two syllables, making it a compound of tar + kāri. The compound word's first syllable was provisionally derived from the language of Middle Indo-Aryan (MIA) which was spoken circa CE 600. The second syllable, -kāri, is derived from the Southern Dravidian (SD) languages, languages which emerged around 5,000 years ago or circa 3000 BCE.  The term tarkari (tarkāri) provisionally derives from MIA tar 'fried' + SD kāri  'edible vegetables, meat, spices'. If you like to explore further, you can read about the origins of tar 'fried' and kāri 'edible vegetables, meat, spices' below.

1. Etymology of tar (tār-)

From Turner's Comparative Dictionary: B. tarkāri vegetables; O. tarakāri curry; Hindi, Panjabi, Marathi tarkārī f. edible vegetables. Also used in Urdu, Bengali, Kumauni, etc. Used among the "Middle/modern Indo-Aryan language group (MIA)" indicating that tar- derives from a word used by at least CE 600-1000, when MIA developed and spread. And,

tar- Cf. tārnu 'to fry', vb. tr. To cook by parching. [lw. Bi. or EH. ＜ *tālayati, cf. Sk. talitaḥ fried: Pk. talaï fries; K. talun; H. talnā to fry or be fried; P. talṇā to fry, L. talaṇ, S. taraṇu, G. taḷvũ, M. taḷṇẽ.]. (Turner) And,

Cf. also the nominal (noun-related) form: taruvā, taruwā, adj. Fried.  tārnu tarkāri a dish of vegetables flavoured with saffron, salt, and spices and fried in ghee (is equated with Hindī pakoṛī and is opposed to jhol pareko tarkāri 'soupy curry'). (Turner)

Note that the modern generic dish called tarkāri can be either dry or saucy since it is a higher order generic kind of dish. Personally, I think of it as parched, or fried in a more dry dish, but the word is used for saucy fried dishes as well. For ex., we ate a restaurant dish called bhera ko tarkari recently which was lamb stewed in a rich gravy sauce. On another note, Nepali, a northern IA language, also uses the word tarkāri so either borrowed it from the MIA family or tarkāri is used earlier before MIA split with the northern and middle IA languages. I lean toward it being borrowed, a popular term which spread into Nepali speaking households after CE 600, but perhaps it was being used before the north/middle IA split.

2. Etymology of kari (Also spelled kāri and kaṟi, with a retroflexed /r/, meaning the tip of the tongue curls up to the roof of the mouth when pronouncing the /r/ sound) 

Many people think of kāri as derived from the Dravidian family's language of Tamil 'curry leaves', but kāri is a more general concept historically. The word kāri is found in most of the  South Dravidian/SD languages and refers to 'edible vegetable, meat, seasoning' (Burrows and Emeneau). It does not refer to grain such as rice or millet, nor to food in general. There's also a related etymon concerning "chewing" which has a shared meaning since one chews edible vegetables, providing both kaṟi the verb form (to chew, eat, make edible) and kaṟi the noun form (as edible vegetable, meat).

From Burrow & Emeneau's Comparative Dictionary:  kaṟi (p. 129) kaṟi 1391 Ta. kaṟi vegetables (raw or boiled), meat (raw or boiled), pepper; kari (-pp-, -tt-) to season (as curries with ghee or oil and spices). Ma. kaṟi hot condiments, meats, vegetables. Ka. kaṟi vegetables of any kind (raw or boiled), curry. Koḍ. kari curry. Tu. kajipu id. Te. (Inscr.) kariy-amudu vegetable of any kind, raw or boiled, offered to deity (amudu < Skt. amṛta-); (Inscr.) kaṟaluvāru persons who bring raw vegetables for the preparation of an offering to the diety. (Dravidian Etymological Dictionary/DED 1171).

 kaṟi (-pp-, -tt-) (p. 129) kaṟi (-pp-, -tt-) 1390 Ta. kaṟi (-pp-, -tt-) to chew, eat by biting or nibbling; n. chewing, eating by biting; kaṟumpu (kaṟumpi-) to eat bit by bit; kaṟuvu (kaṟuvi-) to nibble as a rat; kaṟur̤ bridle, bit. Ma. kaṟumpuka to eat as cows with the lower teeth; kaṟampuka to nibble, gnaw. Tu. kajepuni to chew, husk with the teeth or beak. Te. kaṟacu to bite, gnaw. Cf. 1097 Ta. kaccu. (DED 1170).

Words which almost mean tarkāri

Meat and vegetables eaten with rice: tiun

In Nepali and Hindi, the word tiun (Bihari tiyan) is also used for nearly the same concept as tarkāri. However, it is a bit different since it includes rice in its meaning as Nep. tiun 'Meat and vegetables eaten with rice' or Nep. tiun-tāun 'food' and Hindi/H. tīwan 'sauce'. The word tarkāri has become more popular while tiun is now seen as provincial in meaning, at least in how I've heard it used. For example, in Nepali, a person told me jastai timra tiun taun, ustai hamro siun saun which loosely translates as "Just as your provide the food, So we will sew things for you". This is a proverb meaning that patrons should provide good food if they want good clothing sewn by their tailor! Also, the word tiun is used in the MIA languages so it may be provincial in all the IA languages now as well.

From Turner's Comparative Dictionary:

 tēmana (p. 339) 5949 tēmana n. ʻ moisture, moistening, sauce ʼ lex. 2. *tīmana -- . [√tim]

1. Pa. tēmana -- n. ʻ wetting ʼ; B. teman ʻ sauce ʼ; Si. temana ʻ cooked food, stewed or boiled flesh ʼ.

2. Pk. tīmaṇa -- n. ʻ condiment ʼ; S. tīvaṇu m. ʻ seasoning with rice or bread ʼ; L.mult. tiun ʻsaltedʼ; Ku. tyūn ʻ sauce ʼ; N. tiun ʻ seasoning, curry ʼ, tiuntāun; Or. tiuṇa, tiaṇa ʻ curry ʼ; Bi. tīyan ʻ general term for vegetables ʼ; Mth. timan ʻ cooked vegetables ʼ; H. tīwan m. ʻ sauce ʼ; G. ṭīmaṇ n. ʻ dry food ʼ.

From Grierson's Bihar Peasant Life:

tiyan 'the general term for vegetables' (= tarkāri and pataura)

Sauce, Soup: Sūpa

The word sūpa was also used in northern South Asia and is found in Pali* texts. 

One Pali dictionary entry gives the following: Sūpa Sūpa [Vedic sūpa, cp. Ags. sūpan=Ger. saufen; Ohg. sūf=soup] broth, soup, curry. Vin ii.77, 214 sq.; iv.192; D i.105; S v.129 sq. (their var. flavours); A iii.49 (aneka˚); J ii.66; Vism 343. (Rhys Davids 1925)

Discussion

1. Having a fully IA term for sauce and a mixed IA+Drav term is interesting. Possibly the Dravidian word was borrowed by IA speakers to name a dish introduced into the IA speaking areas. But it may have been compounded with a modifier, the IA prefix (tar-), in order to stipulate a different kind of cooking or preparation.

2. The words tarkāri and tiun are both general words to refer to a variety of dishes and edible vegetables. Fallon's Hindustani dictionary, for example, lists tarkāri along with several other kinds of what in English we refer to as 'greens'. More specific words are used for various dishes in haute cuisine and high-brow restaurant offerings . The term tarkāri is used in middle brow restaurants. For example compare Junoon, a well-known restaurant in New York City with our local Taste of the Himalayas restaurant.

3. Since tarkāri is a high-order, general word, it's been borrowed into various languages such as English. It isn't an entry in the English dictionaries yet, but may be soon!

4. There was an 11th century settlement in Bengal with the name Tarkāri (alt., Tarkārika; Niyogi 1967:8). Possibly this toponym refers to a place which was known for growing edible vegetables although it was historically known as a center of Vedic studies.

Related & Non-Related Words

As an aside, there is a French word, cuire 'to cook, to prepare' and pronounced /kɥiʁ/, sort of like 'queerh'. An old English word, cury 'cooking' derives from cuire. This is an apparently unrelated word which dates back to its first known use in print, in the 1390s English cookbook, The Forme of Cury.

There is also the English word cuisine. This term derives from French cuisine 'cooking, culinary art, kitchen' which in turn derives from Late Latin cocīna, from earlier coquīna. For more on the history of the word cuisine, see https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cuisine#French . 

Conclusion

Well, now you know more about tarkāri curried veges than you probably would have wished to know. Next, you may want to try cooking some of the curried vegetable, fish, and meat dishes of the Asian subcontinent. For a few other blogs which have some great recipes, go to:

http://tasteofnepal.blogspot.com

A site dedicated to the exploration of flavors, cuisine, culture, and festivals of Nepal by Jyoti Pathak. Lots of detailed info on ingredients, such as this one on lentils: 

http://tasteofnepal.blogspot.com/2012/04/dried-beans-lentils-and-peas-daal-haru.html?m=1

http://www.bongcookbook.com

A Bengali ("Bong") cook's from West Bengal, and some parts of Bihar, India and her recipes from near and far.

https://sindhirasoi.com

Sindhi Rasoi's blog devoted to traditional Sindhi foods.

Notes

*Pali is closely related to Sanskrit, being an Indo-Aryan language first known from the area of Bihar and lowlands region of Southern Nepal circa 500 BCE. Afterwards, it became a legal and  liturgical language, especially in Buddhist-dominant areas such as Sri Lanka. 

References

Primary Sources:

Burrow, T and MB Emeneau 1984. A Dravidian Etymological Dictionary. Oxford, Clarendon Press. 

Fallon, S W. 1874. A new Hindustani-English dictionary, with illustrations from Hindustani literature and folk-lore.  Banāras, Medical Hall Press.

Grierson, A. 1885. Bihar Peasant Life: Being a Discursive Catalogue of the Surroundings of the People of that Province. Bengal Secretariat Press. [Provides a description of foods pp 250-257]

Niyogi, Puspa. 1967. Brahmanic Settlements in Different Subdivisions of Ancient Bengal. Calcutta: Indian Studies. 

Rhys Davids, T W, William Stede, and the Pali Text Society. 1925. "The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary." Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient 25, no. 1 (1925): 484-485.

Turner, RL and DR Turner. 1967. A comparative dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages. London, Oxford University Press, 1963–1966.

Secondary Sources:

Kenoyer, J.M., 1985. South Asian Cooking. Festival of American Folklife, p.82-86.