The first printed curry recipe, in English, appeared in Hannah Glasse's cookbook Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (1747). It is simply spiced, with peppercorns and coriander seeds providing most of the flavour. In the 1751 edition, turmeric and ginger were introduced.
A modern version of the 1751 recipe has been provided by Daria Wingreen-Mason on the Smithsonian Libraries Unbound blog.
“To make a currey the Indian way”
2 c. water
1 3-4 lb. chicken, cut-up and skinned
1 ½ large onions (about 12 oz. or 2 ½ c.), chopped small
1 oz. butter (2 T.)
1 T. ground turmeric
1 ½ t. dried, ground ginger
1 ½ t. fine-ground black peppercorns
1 t. kosher salt
1 c. cream
Juice of 1 lemon
Mix turmeric, ginger, pepper, and salt. Put aside.
Skin chicken parts.
In large pot, bring water to boil then add chicken pieces. Bring to simmer, cover (reduce heat further if necessary), and stew (i.e. fricasey) for 5 min. Strain off and save broth (i.e., liquor). Put chicken aside.
Heat a large, wide, heavy bottomed cooking pan over medium-high heat. Melt butter, add onions, and sauté them for about 3 min.
Add chicken to onions and fry together until onions and chicken begin to brown, about 3-4 more minutes.
Sprinkle (i.e. strew) spice mix over chicken. Stir quickly to coat chicken pieces.
Add broth. Stir and scrap any brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Bring to simmer, cover, and stew for about 30 minutes.
Remove lid. At this point the broth should be well reduced, but the onions should still appear wet. Stir in cream and warm through but do not boil.
Remove from heat and add juice of one lemon.
Serve with boiled rice
From https://blog.library.si.edu/2012/05/smithsons-cookbook-english-curry/