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Curry Powder

A spice blend of ginger, mustard, pepper, coriander, turmeric, cardamom, cayenne, cinnamon, and cumin.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Turmeric and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,698 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Curry Powder

Ingredients

Directions

Grind and sift

  1. Pound all ingredients very fine in a mortar.

  2. Sift the mixture.

Store

  1. Store in a tightly corked bottle.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Turmeric + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,698 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Coriander + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,866 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Turmeric + cardamomtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together667 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Cardamom + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,299 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Ginger + turmerictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,776 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Coriander seed
Provides the warm, citrusy, earthy body that forms the base of the blend.
Turmeric
Gives the powder its characteristic yellow color and a mild, earthy bitterness.
Cumin seed
Adds a warm, earthy aroma that deepens the blend's savory character.
Black pepper
Contributes sharp pungency from piperine, giving the blend its gentle heat.
Ginger
Adds a warm, fresh, slightly sweet aroma and a peppery bite.
Mustard
Adds a sharp, pungent note that brightens the otherwise earthy spices.

The step that matters

Grinding very fine. Fine grinding breaks open the seed and root cells so their aromatic oils are released and spread evenly. Coarse pieces leave a gritty texture and a weak, uneven flavor.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ginger, pepper, coriander, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Sweet potatofits better
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ginger, pepper, coriander, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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