homemade curry powder

Never buy curry powder again. Homemade curry powder is easy, cheap and guaranteed fresh every time. And you can customize it if you want to. More chili? Sure. A bit of cardamom? Why not. Hint of cinnamon? It’s up to you.

My favourite is Bolst’s mild curry powder. I like it. Balanced flavours. Just tasty all around curry powder. They’ve been around since the 1930s so they must have a following.

With one problem. I can’t buy it anymore. Nobody has it in town. Looked it up on-line. With shipping – $25. Twenty-five bucks. For about two bucks of spice. Can’t see doing that. Not even for Bolst’s.

Anyone can make homemade curry powder

Homemade curry powder costs pennies to make and it's better than you can buy.

So I reverse engineered it. Had the list of ingredients and a clue. Chilies are 6% of the mix. Ingredients are presented in order – highest to lowest. Wasn’t that hard. Tinkered with it a bit and came up with this.

Indians will tell you they don’t use curry powder. I’ve never understood that. They say they use masalas. Go to any Indian grocery and you will see boxes and boxes of masalas.

Masalas are mixes of spices all ready to go. Curry powder is a mix of spices all ready to go. Confusing.

I think the real difference is more philosophic. Curry powder is one size fits all. Masalas are custom to the dish. Tandoori masala. Chaat masala. Chana masala. It does make sense.

So many uses

When I’m cooking Indian I don’t tend to use this curry powder much either. Certainly it’s never front and centre. That would make everything taste the same. But it is useful to have around. Lot’s of non-traditional Indian uses for it.

Homemade curry powder is great in soups like curried carrot. Or in Moroccan chicken with chickpeas. Or when you want to whip up a quick chicken curry.

Just a great all around spice mix to add to your arsenal. Don’t waste money on pre-fab curry powder. Homemade curry powder. It’s easy. It’s cheap. And it’s delicious.

The recipe on the jar isn’t photoshop BTW. My wife got a Cricut crafting gizmo for Christmas. That’s my actual curry powder jar. I won’t be forgetting the recipe any time soon…

Homemade curry powder in a mason jar with the recipe on the jar.
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4.78 from 9 votes

homemade curry powder

Don't spend money on pre-fab curry powder. Homemade curry powder is easy to make and just tastes better.
Course ingredient
Cuisine Indian
Keyword curry powder
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 2 minutes
Total Time 7 minutes
Servings 2 cups
Calories 383kcal
Author romain | glebekitchen

Ingredients

  • 85 grams coriander powder
  • 75 grams turmeric powder
  • 30 grams brown mustard seeds - whole
  • 12 grams kashmiri chili powder
  • 6 grams ginger powder
  • 6 grams cumin seed - whole
  • 6 grams fenugreek seed - whole

Instructions

  • Grind the mustard seed, cumin seed and fenugreek seed to a fine powder. A coffee grinder works well.
  • Combine the ground seed mixture with the remaining spices in a bowl and mix thoroughly to combine.
  • Store in a mason jar for up to a month.

Notes

Get your spices at a busy bulk food store. Somewhere you can be sure the spices are fresh. When it comes to ground spices, fresh is critical...

Nutrition

Serving: 210g | Calories: 383kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 137mg | Potassium: 1829mg | Fiber: 31g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1815IU | Vitamin C: 19.7mg | Calcium: 463mg | Iron: 28.5mg