Curry powder doesn’t have to be complicated to make at home. This one has just 5 ingredients and tastes fabulous in coconut milk based curries. Coriander seeds, cumin and fennel are the basic flavors in this curry powder. Dried red chilies add heat and turmeric gives it color. All you do it toast everything in a pan and then grind. Very easy to make at home!
Look at any store bought curry powder, and you’ll see that coriander is one of the main ingredients. It adds an earthiness, and an unmistakable Indian flavor to curry powder. The cumin in this recipe adds a toasty, smokiness. And fennel seeds brighten up the curry powder.
The ratio of coriander:cumin:fennel is 2:1:1. In other words, if you use 2 tablespoons of coriander seeds, you will need 1 tablespoon of cumin seeds and 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds.
Homemade Curry Powder Recipe
Yields about 5 tablespoons
Ingredients
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
2 or more dried red chilies, broken up into small pieces.
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
Method
- Place coriander, cumin, fennel seeds and broken up red chilies (discard stems) in a medium pan. Use a pan large enough so that the spices are spread in a thin layer.
- Toast the spices on medium-low heat, shaking the pan often, till the spices turn color and get fragrant, about 12 minutes.
- Cool the roasted spices. Then using a spice grinder, grind into a fine powder. Add in the turmeric and blend once more till everything is combined.
- Store in an airtight container for 2 months
Basic Curry Recipe Using Homemade Curry Powder
Serves about 4
Ingredients
Choose 2-3 of the following: 1 medium onion diced, 4 cloves of garlic minced, 1 large tomato diced, 2 teaspoons minced ginger.
1 recipe curry powder (5 tablespoons), see above for recipe
4-5 cups vegetables (Zucchini, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, carrot, spinach, potato, sweet potato, winter squash etc)
1-2 cups water
1 cup coconut milk
Method
Sauté your choice of onion/garlic/ginger/tomato in oil. Add the curry powder and stir for 30 seconds.
Add vegetables, salt and water and cook till vegetables are tender. (Keep in mind that different vegetables cook in different times, so you will have to add the quicker cooking vegetables later).
Stir in coconut milk, bring back to a boil. Turn off heat as soon as the curry boils.
Serve hot with rice, quinoa, roti or bread.
This is a basic formula; vary the recipe to your liking.
For a pumpkin and spinach curry recipe using this curry powder, see this post.
Hiya! Loving your blog and am a regular reader.
I noticed in your demo recipe that the coconut milk is added last, after the veggies are done. Why is this? I’m just starting to learn South Indian cuisine and have put coconut milk in with the water straightaway. Maybe I was just following bad recipes.
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Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:
October 16th, 2012 at 10:59 pm
Some coconut milks will split or curdle if you cook them too much. So to be on the safe side, I add them last. But if you’ve been successfully adding coconut milk and cooking it with the veggies, certainly keep doing that
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Hi Sala! You just reminded me of home, when my mum dry roasts spices and the lovely aroma all over the house. I have never tried to replicate this at home ,my mum sends me curry powder every now and then to stock up. So spoiled!
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Such a good time of year to make a nice heart and belly warming curry and having your own spice mix on hand makes it so much easier and a hell of a lot tastier!
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Its the fennel that makes it different! The yellow looks bright and beautiful. I found a recipe for Madras curry powder in Vikas Khanna’s ‘Flavours First’. Will try both the versions. Thanks for sharing this.:)
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Love the idea of home made curry powder, i have seen in some curry books written by british chefs the recipe, but never have made them home.
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Nice post. Love the color of the curry powder
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Homemade spice mixes are the best! I love how customizable they are, and mow much fresher they taste than premixed ground spices. Thanks!
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Nothing like making your spice powders at home! My Mum always makes me batches of my favorite masalas when I visit her!
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Hi! We’re Stefano and Flavia, a couple of Italian vegan foodbloggers. We’ve just discovered your blog and… Wow! Great recipes and great photos! Thank you for sharing such good ideas
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first time here. nice recipes and very helpful post. do visit my space pl.
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I made this curry powder last week, and used it in a variation of the pumpkin and spinach curry. It was delicious! The only thing I will do differently in the future is add more chiles. I used three chiles of the type shown in the picture and there was barely any heat at all. Still delicious though!
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what is the difference between this and ordinary sambhar poder (not araithuvitta sambhar)
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