Using Spices like Curry Powder

Spices come from vegetable plants and are used in cooking to add a pungent or bitter taste, like saffron, or an aromatic and sweet taste, like cloves. Spices, including herbs and seasonings, enhance the taste of our beverages, breads, fresh and cooked fruits and vegetables, fish, and meat dishes. Most kitchens have a collection of favorites.

Spices can be purchased separately, like cumin, or as a blend of several ingredients. One such blend is curry powder. Curry enjoys a reputation as a basic flavoring in many dishes from regions throughout Asia. It has influenced chefs around the world and is now enjoyed in almost every country and cuisine.

Many people who cook in the traditions of India and Southeast Asia have their own special recipe for curry powder. According to an article at WiseGeek.com, most curry powder mixtures contain turmeric, the source of the yellow color. It may include coriander, ginger, garlic, chilies, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, cumin, and tamarind. The article goes on to describe red curry made with red chiles, green curry made with green chiles, and yellow curry containing mostly turmeric and cumin. The curry powder blend can also use fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds, poppy seeds, anise, cardamom, cassia, celery seed, and mace.

Many curry powder recipes call for fresh ingredients and these family secrets are handed down from generation to generation as valuable legacies. The wise Indian chef will explain that some ingredients must be toasted to exacting requirements, carefully stored, and ground by hand to a fine powder just prior to using. More common in the Western world, curry powder is a standardized mixture sold commercially. No single recipe is more authentic than another, and the taste does vary widely among different brands.

For some people, curry is an acquired taste. But there are so many recipes to enjoy as you are acquiring it. Think about Chicken Curry, Shrimp Curry, Lamb Curry, Oyster Curry, Crab Curry, Corn Curry, and curried dishes using lentils, rice, or vegetables like corn and pumpkin.

RecipeLand.com has a delicious recipe for Chicken Curry Stir-Fry that includes fruits and vegetables. Epicurious has a Indian Curried Shrimp recipe that adds ginger and cilantro, as well as the traditional coconut milk. RecipeHound.com includes this Vietnamese Vegetable Curry that calls for "good quality Indian curry powder" and combines carrots, shallots, new potatoes, green beans, and Japanese eggplant.

The writer has a favorite dish that is simple to prepare. Lentils are so accommodating as a side dish. In a large sauce pan, combine 1 C lentils, 3 C chicken broth, 1 large onion chopped fine, 1 clove garlic chopped fine, 1 TBS sesame oil, 1 tsp curry powder, 1/2 tsp. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 40 minutes. Add more broth or water if necessary. You can start with 1/2 tsp of curry powder until you are sure you will enjoy the flavor.

Sources
Curry Powder, Lionsgrip
What is Curry? WiseGeek
Chicken Curry Stir-Fry, RecipeLand.com
Indian Curried Shrimp, Epicurious.com
Vietnamese Vegetable Curry, RecipeHound.com