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Curry-powder

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

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

Make the powder

  1. Mix all ingredients together.

  2. Pound the mixture finely.

  3. Sift the mixture to remove any larger particles.

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

Turmeric
Gives the powder its yellow colour and earthy, slightly bitter flavour.
Coriander seed
Provides a citrusy, warm aroma and forms the base flavour of the blend.
Cumin seed
Adds an earthy, warm aroma that gives the blend depth.
Black pepper
Contributes sharp, pungent heat that builds the blend's bite.
Cayenne pepper
Adds direct chilli heat, which is used in small amounts to control spiciness.
Ginger
Adds a warm, pungent aroma and a fresh peppery bite.

The step that matters

Pound the mixture finely. Grinding breaks the spices into smaller particles, which increases the surface area so the aromatic oils release more evenly. Coarse pieces give a gritty texture and uneven flavour.

Swap the mustard

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

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

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