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East India Curry Powder

A spice blend made from roasted coriander, turmeric, fenugreek, mustard, cumin, and cayenne pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 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 ↓

East India Curry Powder

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Roast each seed and root separately, being careful not to burn them.

  2. Powder the roasted ingredients finely.

Blend and store

  1. Mix all the powdered ingredients thoroughly.

  2. Bottle the mixture for storage.

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 + fenugreektop 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 seeds
Provide the main citrusy, warm aroma that forms the base of the blend.
Turmeric root
Adds earthy flavor and a deep yellow color to the powder.
Fenugreek seed
Contributes a bittersweet, maple-like flavor and aroma when roasted.
Mustard seed
Adds sharp, pungent heat and nutty flavor once roasted and ground.
Cumin seed
Provides a warm, earthy aroma that gives the curry its characteristic smell.

The step that matters

Roast each seed and root separately. Seeds and roots darken at different rates, and roasting them together can leave some burnt while others stay raw. Burnt spices taste bitter and acrid, and under-roasted ones lack aroma, so each must be watched and roasted on its own.

Swap the mustard

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

  1. Spinachfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Okrafits better
  4. Mustardthe original

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