Etymology Map
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Tandoori

4 stages from Akkadian to English.

Today it means cooked in a clay oven (tandoor)

Where does the word "tandoori" come from? It comes from Akkadian tinūru, passing through Persian and Urdu before entering English (1950s).

1
Stage 1 of 4
tinūru
Akkadian · ancient
"oven"
a clay oven, in cuneiform texts of ancient Mesopotamia
2
Stage 2 of 4
tanūr
Persian · medieval
"clay oven"
a clay oven
3
Stage 3 of 4
tandūrī
Urdu · medieval
"oven-cooked"
cooked in a tandoor; the Moti Mahal restaurant in Delhi made tandoori chicken famous after 1947
4
Stage 4 of 4
tandoori
English · 1950s
"clay-oven cooked"
spread through Indian restaurants in Britain
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Read the full story

Tandoori’s story begins in Akkadian: tinūru meant “oven.” A clay oven, in cuneiform texts of ancient Mesopotamia. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Persian as tanūr. A clay oven. From there it passed into Urdu as tandūrī by medieval. Cooked in a tandoor; the Moti Mahal restaurant in Delhi made tandoori chicken famous after 1947. It reached English by 1950s as tandoori. Spread through Indian restaurants in Britain. Today, tandoori means cooked in a clay oven (tandoor).