Curry
Powder
The
name curry powder today is synonymous
with the Indian food. The word Curry is
believed to be derived from the South
Indian Tamil word Karhi. During the British
Raj in India, “Curry” evolved
as the word describes Indian food cooked
in thick spice sauce. Over the years,
the foreigner, especially British who
lived or visited India slowly started
to introduce the curry to the outside
world.
The good commercial curry powder
were hard to find during the early days.
People had to make curry powder from scratch
if they wanted quality. However, now many
good curry powders are easily found in
India as well as western supermarkets. |
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Curry powder
is now often used in many Oriental, Middle
Eastern cooking besides Indian cooking.
Curry powder is blend or mixture of the
different spices, which differs according
to geographic regions or personal preference.
A standard curry powder is not exactly
traditional and authentic Indian seasoning.
In many regions of India, Indian subcontinent
and many other eastern cooking, spices
are mixed together in local style. Usually,
the curry powder reflects local availability
of the spices in the mixture. For example,
curry powder from south (hotter climate)
tend to be high on chili so hot while
the ones from the north tend to be less
hot and more nutty in flavor.
The basic recipe
of curry powder uses dried red chilies,
mustard seeds, coriander seeds,
cumin seeds, turmeric, black pepper, fenugreek etc., however, the right choice of curry
powder depends on personal taste and suitability
of particular blend with certain food
type. |