Curry Powder (English)

english-currypowder The flavour and aroma of this curry blend is an absolute feast for the senses and hands down beats anything you'll find at the store. You may be surprised to know that curry powder doesn't exist on the Indian subcontinent and is in fact an 18th century British invention. Whereas most Indian recipes use a variety of different individual spices, curry powder was Great Britain's way of simplifying Indian cooking in a way that was easily accessible to the British home cook who would otherwise have found it difficult to acquire some of these spices. British manufacturers developed a pre-made blend of Indian spices, called it "curry powder", and sold it in tin cans (popular brands that still exist include Sharwood's, The Original Ship/Green Label and Crosse & Blackwell). Now cooks could take out a scoop or two of "curry powder", add it to their meal, and enjoy a full array of Indian flavours. It was during this same time period that British cookbooks started including recipes for "curry sauce", another British creation. The term "curry" is the anglicized version of the Tamil word kari, which translates to the generic word "sauce". In Great Britain, "curry sauce" referred to a specific dish that used curry powder. And this "curry sauce" has since become world renowned and conjures up an immediate recognition and expectation of what it will taste like. There is no standard recipe and both the selection of spices and their ratios vary from recipe to recipe and from brand to brand. However there are several spices that more often than not are included in curry powder and those include coriander, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, fenugreek, fennel, curry leaf or bay leaf, garlic, black pepper and red chilies.

Curry powder is similar to madras powder, common in South India. They both have similar ingredients and thus a similar flavour, but they differ in their level of heat. Standard curry powder is milder whereas madras curry powder is hot. This heat come from adding more red chilies as well as yellow mustard seeds.

¼ cup coriander seeds
4 tsp. cumin seeds
1 Tbsp. fennel seeds
1 tsp. fenugreek seeds
1 tsp. black peppercorns
1 tsp. yellow mustard seeds
4 small dried red chili peppers
4 dried curry leaves, or substitute 1 large bay leaf
2 Tbsp. ground turmeric
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. sea salt
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

Heat a skillet over medium heat and roast the whole spices and curry/bay leaves for a few minutes until very fragrant. Be careful not to scorch the spices or they will be bitter. Let the spices cool completely. Place the whole spices in a spice/coffee grinder along with the remaining ingredients and grind until you get a fine powder.

Store the curry powder in an airtight jar in a dark, cool place. It will keep for several months but for best flavour use within a few weeks.

Makes about ½ cup of curry powder.

Make the Curry Paste: Combine 1 Tbsp. of curry powder with 1 Tbsp. of water and 1 Tbsp. of oil and mix together. You can also add some finely minced garlic and ginger. (You can use larger quantities of the paste ingredients and purée everything together in a blender.)