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8/21 #608 CURRY POWDERS
Al loves to cook and even if he didn’t have a weekly radio show about cooking, he would consider himself an adventurous chef. Over the years he has tried the food of countless cuisines, and one that he has recently fallen in love with is Indian. Of course, Indian food means curries, at least to westerners. Oddly enough the word isn’t used very often in authentic Indian cooking. It’s a phrase of convenience invented by Englishmen to describe the entire spectrum of highly seasoned Indian stews. Central to Indian cooking, either Northern or Southern, is the blend of ground spices that we refer to as curry powder. Again, the concept of “curry powder” is a marketing gimmick. In true Indian cooking, the cook prepares the blend of spices on a per dish basis, selecting small quantities of spice that are ground, toasted, shredded or fried. The packages of Curry Powder available in western stores, or recipe specific classic blends that you find in Indian grocery stores are convenient short cuts, nothing more. For those who make a curry once or twice a year, McCormick’s very fine line of powders will yield a consistent result. But for those who want to plunge into Indian cooking, you can’t beat having a dedicated spice grinder and a collection of spices to use on a frequent basis. Here’s a good list to have on hand. And remember, whole seeds, stems or pods keep their flavor far longer than the ground up version. Cumin, coriander, fenugreek, black pepper, white pepper, chilies, ginger, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, fennel, and mustard seeds. You can also find pre-mixed jars of pastes such as ginger/garlic paste, fish paste or tamarind juice that you can keep on hand. You may also find packages of the classic blends, such as garan masala, Madras, sate, vindaloo, maharajah, tandoori, balti, rogan josh and good old muchi hot curry. Whatever you choose, nearly all curry blends work best when they are cooked in oil or some other fat. This not only infuses the cooking medium with flavor, it brings out and intensifies the inherent flavor in the spice. This is why nearly all Indian recipes begin with sautéing chopped onion in vegetable oil, and then adding the spice to make a paste.
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