"Curry" and its origins?

[Geeta Bharathan]

I have been lurking here for a couple of weeks, and present my question to
this group with some trepidation. Firstly, I'm not an Indologist, just a
plant evolutionary biologist with an interest in things Indian.
So, if the answers are obvious, please do cut me some slack!

A casual interest in the etymology of the word "curry" in English led me
to a some insights, and I would greatly appreciate your comments,
opinions, etc on this:

The OED (and Hobson Jobson) says that the word "curry" in English was
derived from the "tamizh word kari, meaning sauce". However, in
contemporary, everyday tamizh (with which I am familiar) kari has no such
connotation; it means either sauted vegetables (in the brahmin dialect),
or meat. In malayALam, and Kannada and tulu, kari has exactly the "sauce"
connotation.

Finding this very intriquing, I urged my tamizh-scholar cousin to look
into the question. This was the response I got from her:

=======================================
The historical usage of the word `curry'

I. The meaning of the word `curry' during `Sangam' Period
(700 BC-100 BC) --
curry - pepper, pepper creeper, (in a general sense - spice)

II  `curry' Medieval period
   1. vegetable curry
   2. biting
   3. eating
   4. oru nAzhikai (60 seconds)

III Present usage : vegetable curry, meat

And, in response to my question about kuzhambu--

kuzhambu - The word occurs in the Sangam period itself. There are two
other words too.

1. kuzhambu - Thick paste (Any thick paste)

2. cEru - Thick paste; e.g.,
        a) candana cEru
        b) maN cEru
        c) kAykaRi cEru
3. pAkar - in the sense of `sAmbAr'

======================================

So here are some questions that come to mind (I'm still waiting for her
response)

-- Did the term "miLagu" for pepper exist in the Sangam period? What is
known about the shift in usage from "curry" to "milagu", for black pepper?

-- why (how come) did the meaning of "curry" diversify so much during the
Medieval period? What dates do you place on the Medieval period?

--when did "kuzhambu" replace "curry"?

I could go on, but this should do for appetizers...

--Geeta