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Curry Powder

A blend of powdered turmeric, coriander, white pepper, cayenne, ginger, mustard, allspice, cardamom, cumin, and cloves.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Turmeric and cardamom match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 667 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Curry Powder

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine all the powdered spices in a large bowl.

  2. Mix well until evenly blended.

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

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Turmeric + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,776 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Coriander + cardamomtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together872 recipes

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

  4. Ginger + cardamomtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,114 recipes

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

  5. Ginger + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,620 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Turmeric
Gives the blend its yellow colour and earthy, bitter flavour.
Coriander seed
Provides a citrusy, warm aroma that forms the base of the blend.
White pepper
Adds sharp, lingering heat with a mild aroma.
Cayenne pepper
Adds direct chilli heat to the blend.
Jamaica ginger
Contributes a warm, spicy aroma and pungency.
Yellow mustard
Adds a sharp, pungent flavour that carries through cooked dishes.

The step that matters

Mix until evenly blended. Powdered spices differ in density and particle size, so they can separate or settle. An uneven blend gives some portions too much heat or colour and others too little, so the flavour varies from bite to bite.

Swap the white pepper

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

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Clovefits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against turmeric, coriander, pepper, ginger, mustard, allspice, cardamom. 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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