tandoori

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

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).

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