 The first known appearance in its anglicised form (spelled "currey") appears in a 1747 book of recipes published by Hannah Glasse.The word "cury" appears in the 1390s English cookbook, "The Forme of Cury", but is unrelated and comes from the Middle French word "cuire", meaning 'to cook'

Archaeological evidence dating to 2600 BCE from Mohenjo-daro suggests the use of mortar and pestle to pound spices including mustard, fennel, cumin, and tamarind pods with which they flavoured food.Black pepper is native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia and has been known to Indian cooking since at least 2000 BCE.