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Curry Powder

A blend of coriander, black pepper, fenugreek, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne pepper, ground and dried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Cumin and turmeric 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

Prepare

  1. Powder each ingredient very finely.

  2. Mix all the powdered ingredients together thoroughly.

Dry and store

  1. Spread the mixture in a Dutch oven and dry it by turning it often over low heat.

  2. Once dry and cool, store in a tightly corked container.

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. Cumin + turmerictop 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. Fenugreek + turmerictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together229 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Fenugreek + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together178 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Coriander + turmerictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,253 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 main citrusy, aromatic base of the blend.
Black pepper
Adds sharp, pungent heat that gives the blend its bite.
Fenugreek seed
Contributes a bittersweet, maple-like aroma typical of curry.
Cumin seed
Supplies warm, earthy aroma characteristic of curry flavour.
Turmeric powder
Gives the blend its yellow colour and a mild, earthy bitterness.
Cayenne pepper
Adds chilli heat that raises the spice level of the blend.

The step that matters

Drying over low heat. The mixture must be dried gently and turned often so it dries evenly without scorching. Scorching makes ground spices taste bitter and burnt, and any leftover moisture can encourage mould during storage.

Swap the fenugreek

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

  1. Cardamomfits better
  2. Oreganofits better
  3. Fennelfits about as well
  4. Fenugreekthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against coriander, pepper, cumin, turmeric. 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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