When you think of Indian cuisine, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Let’s be honest, almost everyone will say curry, and so do I, or so did I until I found out curry as we know it in India doesn’t exist.
What is curry?
You can’t just go to India, enter a restaurant and say “Hi, one curry please!”. Curry spice is actually a British invention by the spice traders from India in their attempt to bring the flavors of Indian dishes home. Today, the name curry is rather misleading when talking about the spice itself as it’s derived from the Indian word “Kari” – meaning sauce. So, to not offend your Indian friend while pretending you’re well informed about their cuisine, “Masala” (mixed spices) would be a lot more appropriate term to describe what we see as Curry.
Back to the recipe:
Most curry powder recipes rely on 4 main ingredients: Coriander, Cumin, Turmeric, and Chili. Amount of ingredients can vary from 5 up to 15 and may include spices like ginger, cayenne, garlic powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, fennel, etc. I myself don’t like my curry powder to be too spicy on the hot side, I just find it captivates most of the flavor. But feel free to experiment with the ratios as you please.
