[joshuaissac]

> Curry is a South Indian word referring to vegetables originally

Not exclusively to vegetables. It originally comes from 'kari', meaning 'blackened' or 'burnt', and referred to cooked vegetables and meat.

1. https://www.etymonline.com/word/curry#etymonline_v_491

[kelipso]

That etymology might actually be wrong. The kari for blackened, burnt, etc comes from കരി where the r sound is a dental flap type r sound, while the kari for curry comes from കറി where the r sound is the typical r sound. So it's more likely the etymology is from malakkarry, which means vegetables, meaning than kari from the blackened, burnt, etc meaning.

[joshuaissac]

Perhaps, but the difference is pronunciation is not definitive evidence.

For example, curry veppu (curry tree) is pronounced with the regular r sound in the standard dialect, but in some dialects, it is instead kariyaappu with the dental flap r sound (the 't' in American English 'atom').

The kari for 'burnt', 'blackened' is also related to 'karuppu' for 'black', which is pronounced with the regular 'r' (like curry) instead of the dental one.

[hannibal529]

Regardless of this article’s content and the discussion here, I’m glad to see some fellow mallus in a HN thread :)

[anuraj]

That etymology is probably wrong. I posit - it comes from 'Kant/rikkuka' means to cut and cook. Kari vs KaRi.