Hyderabadi Curry Powder

[mashani]

@BPGreen, and anyone else.

This is the base recipe I use for my curry powder. I learned it from a South Indian friend, who of course doesn't actually measure anything. But this turns out very close to what she makes and is delicious.

This is not really like the curry powder you get in the store, which is more of a North Indian style. This stuff is a lot more complex, yet blends together perfectly and is better in every way - at least to my tastes. It is also spicier.

A couple tbsp. of this mixed with some coconut milk, some chickpeas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, peas, etc... or fish if you like fish, or chicken, or whatever... a splash of lemon or lime juice if you like, a bit of jaggery (suger) if you like, salt, more pepper if you like, and /or pretty much anything else you can think of and you have something delicious.

The seeds from 22 green cardamom pods
12 dried curry leaves
5 dried bay leaves
5 dried red chilies
2 cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces (true Ceylon preferred if you can get it)
6 tbsp. coriander seeds
4 tbsp. ground turmeric
3 tbsp. ground cumin seeds
2 tbsp. anise seeds
2 tbsp. black mustard seeds
1 tbsp. fenugreek seeds
1 tsp. black peppercorns
1/2 tsp. whole cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (freshly ground from a nutmeg if possible)

Roast everything in a the heaviest dry pan you have over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring continuously so nothing burns.

Everything should turn just slightly darker, and become more aromatic.

Immediately remove from heat, and grind into a fine powder.

Store in an airtight container.

This makes around a cup of curry powder, which will last you a while.

[bpgreen]

Thanks! That looks really good. It's a lot more complex than what I do when I try to do my own.

Some of those ingredients may be hard to find around here.

I think I saw an Indian market the last time I was in Salt Lake City. I'm going there this weekend, so maybe I'll check it out.

[The_Professor]

That looks good, I'll give it a try.

[mashani]

Everything should be available at an Indian or Middle Eastern grocery. But yeah, I don't think you will find dried curry leaves or green cardamom pods in most regular grocery stores. BTW, there are black cardamom pods too, but they are different and not interchangeable in this recipe so don't get those.

Specialty spice shops you might find all of it too, but it will cost 5x more then if you go to the Indian grocery store.

I go to Indian groceries often. You can buy anywhere from 4oz to a pound of spices of some types for the price of a little jar in your regular grocery. I make Bengali food sometimes, and to be most authentic you need to use raw mustard oil. That's also something you can pretty much only find in such a store, because the FDA considers it to be a hazardous substance. IE if you just tried to use it raw it might blister your mouth. So even in the Indian groceries that sell it it's often labeled in fine print somewhere as "not for human consumption" to get it past the FDA. But to use it in Bengali dishes you basically heat it up to smoking point and then toss in your stuff, and this makes it not hazardous. Just don't stick your eyes over the pan while it's heating up and inhale the fumes. That's not fun.

[bpgreen]

I found the Indian food store in Salt Lake City and bought the ingredients for this. I bought a few other things, as well.

They didn't have dried curry leaves, but they had fresh ones.

[mashani]

You will want to oven dry (or dehydrate however you dehydrate your hops) the fresh ones before you use them.

You do *not* want to add moisture to the powder.

[bpgreen]

You will want to oven dry (or dehydrate however you dehydrate your hops) the fresh ones before you use them.

You do *not* want to add moisture to the powder.

Thanks. I'll get the dehydrator out.

[bpgreen]

I just made this.

In the future, I think I'll just use the individual ingredients.

But it's nice to see a different take on curry. In the past, I've mostly used just turmeric and cumin.

[bpgreen]

I thought I posted an update to this thread, but I guess I didn't.

I made a variation on a Nepali dish known as Dal Bhat Tarkari (I may have the spelling wrong). Dal means lentils. Bhat means Rice (or maybe grains, I'm not sure). Tarkari means vegetables.

Normally, each of these would be cooked separately, but I cooked the Dal and Tarkari together and used a combination of brown rice, wheat berries and quinoa instead of plain rice.

And I used the curry powder I made following the recipe here.

My house smelled amazing for about three days.

I'm going to do it again, but Nepali food is much hotter, so I'll add some more hot peppers next time.

[mashani]

If you liked how that turned out cooked together, then look up an Indian dish called Kitchari. It is basically lentils and rice and vegetables of your choice, cooked together. It is also known as "monsoon rice". Indian kitchens tend to be separated from the homes (open wood fire = chance to burn down the house, so separate = burn down only the little kitchen shed). Kitchari is such that if you have to run between the hut and the house in the monsoon rain the dish isn't ruined, it just becomes slightly more soupy (it starts off thick).

Yeah, I'd add chilies too, but that powder is a good base, just add heat to taste.

Glad you liked it. That stuff does smell incredible.