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Curry Powder

A spice blend of coriander, turmeric, black pepper, mustard, ginger, allspice, cardamom, and cumin.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 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

Oven, in the book's wordsA cool oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Roast the spices

  1. Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C).

  2. Place all ingredients in the oven and leave them overnight.

Grind and sieve

  1. The next morning, pound the ingredients in a marble mortar.

  2. Rub the mixture through a fine sieve.

Store

  1. Store the curry powder in a well-sealed 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. Turmeric + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,776 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Coriander seed
Provides the citrusy, warm aroma that forms the base of the blend.
Turmeric
Gives the powder its yellow colour and earthy, slightly bitter flavour.
Black pepper
Adds sharp, pungent heat that lifts the other spices.
Ginger
Contributes a warm, peppery aroma and a fresh bite.
Mustard
Adds a sharp, pungent note that rounds out the blend.
Cumin seed
Contributes a smoky, earthy aroma characteristic of curry.

The step that matters

Keeping the oven at 300°F overnight. Low, steady heat dries and gently toasts the spices so their aromas develop without scorching. Higher heat or a longer time can burn the seeds, leaving a bitter taste that carries into the finished powder.

Swap the mustard

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

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Parsnipfits better
  4. Mustardthe original

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