Curry Powder Recipe (Mild & Madras)

Curry Powder is a popular Indian spice blend used to spice and flavor curried dishes. This homemade version is easy to make and you won’t find anything as good as this in the stores. This Curry Powder acts as a thickener, imparts pleasant & subtle flavors to your curries. A lot of people do not like to use garam masala in their everyday cooking, yet want to impart delicate flavors to their dishes. If you think so, this Curry Powder is just for you! In this post I share 2 recipes – Mild Curry Powder and hot spicy Madras Curry powder.

Curry Powder originated in the Tamil cuisine, South India and is known as Kulambu thool or kuzhambu podi in Tamil. It is a staple in the Tamil speaking homes and is used in everyday vegetarian curries, gravies, tamarind based stews (kuzhambu) etc.

A spicier/hot version of this is commercially marketed as Madras Curry Powder, sometimes with more Spices added to it. A similar version also exits in the Telugu Cuisine and goes by the name Koora Karam meaning curry spice blend.

The earliest mention of curry powder refers to the times much before the British Era, when Tamil merchants (from Madras, currently Chennai) sold kari powder to British settlers In India.

The today’s term “Curry” is an anglicized word for the Tamil word “Kari”. Later, various versions of curry powder were created by Indians who were ferried by the British to other countries.

What is Curry Powder?

Curry Powder is a spice blend made with coriander seeds, cumin, mustard, fenugreek seeds, turmeric, dried red chilies, fennel seeds and sometimes curry leaves. You will find variations like using lentils for a nutty flavor and raw rice as a thickening agent.

This homemade recipe is my perfected version that is based on the Telugu Koora Karam and Tamil Kulambu Thool but with minimal heat & a few extra Spices included for an extra zing!

So I wouldn’t call this a Kura karam or a kulambu thool which is made back home in India. The traditional version is super hot and it approximately comprises of 85% dried red chilies, 5% coriander seeds and 10% other ingredients.

A traditional curry powder does not include stronger spices like black cardamoms, mace, nutmeg, star anise or caraway seeds which makes it a stronger blend similar to garam masala and biryani masala.

Though spices like green cardamoms, cloves and cinnamon are also not part of the traditional curry powder I love using them as it gives me the flexibility to flavor many more dishes. You will also find these spices in many store bought Asian Curry Powder.

Without these extra spices my curry powder tasted and smelled like Sambar Powder.

Why use Curry Powder over Garam Masala?

Indians don’t use garam masala in every other dish and in most households it is not an ingredient used every day. The reason being too many spices can cause digestive/stomach problems, can dehydrate the body and also mainly because we think it is unnecessary.

We also prefer the flavor of the star ingredient (e.g. vegetables/ lentils) to shine through in vegetarian dishes which is lost if garam masala is used.

While garam masala imparts stronger flavors, curry powder serves the purpose with milder flavors, color & texture. Curry powder is used as an all-in-one spice blend, meaning you don’t need to reach out to so many jars of spices, while making a curry.

More similar recipes
Chai Spice Recipe
Garam Masala
Biryani Masala
Cumin Powder

Photo Guide

How to Make Mild Curry Powder (Stepwise Photos)

1. Heat a pan and add 2 tablespoons (10 grams) coriander seeds, ½ teaspoon (1 gram) black pepper, 3 to 4 dried red chilies (deseeded for low heat), 1 star anise, 1 (1 gram) two inch piece cinnamon, 4 cloves and 5 (2 grams) cardamoms. Toast them (do not brown) on a low to medium heat until coriander seeds turn crunchy. Add the ½ tablespoon (5 grams) cumin seeds and 1½ teaspoon (4.5 grams) fennel seeds. Toast until they begin to smell earthy. Transfer to a cooling tray.

2. To the same pan add ½ teaspoon (2 grams) fenugreek seeds and roast on a low heat until they change their color to deep golden & begin to smell nutty/aromatic. Be careful as these can lend a bitter taste to your curry if they are overtoasted or undertoasted. Add the ½ teaspoon (2 grams) mustard and keep stirring just for a minute. Remove them to the tray.

3. Roast 1 tablespoon (14 grams) Bengal gram/ urad dal – lentils/raw rice on a low to medium heat until aromatic, deep golden or light brown. If using rice, you won’t brown them. Transfer to the cooling tray. Adding more lentils will take you close to sambar powder.

4. Add 10 to 20 curry leaves and toast them until crisp. Turn off and transfer to the tray. The picture shows more curry leaves but don’t use more than 20.

5. Add ¼ teaspoon organic turmeric and ½ teaspoon dried ginger (optional) to grinder jar along with all the cooled ingredients. Powder them fine. Cool down if the curry powder is warm. If you use a lot of turmeric it can stain your grinder jar. Also you may keep aside some of the toasted chilies and use after taste testing the powder. I use only 2 deseeded chilies.

6. Transfer to an air tight glass jar and use as needed. If making a larger batch, store in smaller jars so it remains fresh for longer. This recipe makes about 6 tablespoons.

How to use Curry Spice Blend

Use ½ tablespoon per serving in vegetarian stir fry dishes and 3/4 tablespoon in curries and stews. You can use more if you want but keep in mind that your dish can become hot if you have included red chilies/ flakes/powder. Note that curry powder is mild and won’t impart stronger flavors like garam masala/ meat masala.

To use in meat dishes, top up with garam masala as required. You don’t need to add other spices individually like coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric etc. You can also use this in a lentil or any vegetarian dish without garam masala (depending on the recipe).

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Curry leaves: As the name says curry leaves are the key ingredient in this curry powder. It is best to use fresh or frozen curry leaves. If that is not available, double the amount and use dried leaves but I can’t guarantee.
• Lentils: Also known as dal are another key ingredient in the curry powder. It not only adds flavor and a creamy texture to the curries but also works as a healthy thickener. Here we use chana dal – Bengal gram & it can be substituted with split pigeon peas (toor dal), skinned urad dal or red lentils. But the flavor changes.
• Spices: I prefer using whole spices to make my curry powder for 2 reasons. I always stock up whole spices and don’t prefer to buy ground since they oxidize and lose their flavor soon. If you want to make your curry powder with ground spices, you may use the same quantities mentioned in grams.
• Dried Red Chilies: I use low heat Mathania chilies. You can use Kashmiri for low heat or Byadgi for medium heat or any other of choice. To make a hot curry powder, use hot chilies instead of increasing the quantity. We found this way the flavors are more balanced. Using a lot of chilies will impart more chili flavor to the powder & will go closer to the traditional thool/ karam.
• Ginger: A lot of times I do not include dry ginger in my curry powder because I love using fresh ginger over dried. Also note that both add different kind of flavors. So you can use dried here and still use fresh while cooking. Using dried ginger too often can dehydrate and cause constipation in a lot of people. So use with caution.

Related Recipes

Recipe Card for Mild Curry Powder

Recipe Card for Madras Curry Powder