The term “kaṟi”, referred to during the modern day as “curry”, is described within a mid 17th century Portuguese cookbook entitled the “East Indian Cookery Book” which was written by members of the British East India Company who traded with Tamil merchants along the Coromandel Coast of southeast India. Curry powder is referred to as such because one of the spice blends in the book which contains 2 or more spices is referred to as “kari podi” which has been Romanized to read as “curry powder”
Death was quite common among the British stationed in India, with 33% of the entire British workforce dying in a single year due to the rainy season set by the monsoon. The average lifespan of a British worker in India was said to be just two monsoons, and the East India Company regularly had shipments of blank tombstones shipped from England just to keep up with the number of dying workers each month. The East India Company tried to help decrease these numbers by shipping vast quantities of spirits and wine, in the hopes that it would help increase the overall health of the workforce but unfortunately it did not do much good