Curry Powder

Curry powder is a mixture of spices of widely varying composition, that is a classic of Indian cuisine. In the Western world Curry Powder mixtures tend to have fairly standardized taste, whereas in its original India there are many different curry flavors available to be experienced for the true gourmet. Curry powder was largely popularised during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through the mass exportation of the condiment to the western table - throughout Europe and North and South America .

Still, Curry powder did not become standardized, as many of the original blends of curry powder were still available throughout the world. The late 60s and early 70s saw a large increase of Indian food consumption by the western populations, and in general internationally as a particularly palatable dish - the true classic condiment of Indian cuisine. This naturally led to an increase of Indian restaurants throughout the world. The tradition of keeping special blends of curry powder simply became uneconomical, and curry powder became increasingly standardized outside India.

Indian cooks often have readier access to a variety of fresh spices than their foreign counterparts, and are more likely to make their own mixtures. Indeed, most curry cooks will have their own specific mixtures for different recipes. These are often passed down from parent to child.

Most recipes and producers of curry powder usually include coriander, turmeric, cumin, and fenugreek in their blends. Depending on the recipe, additional ingredients such as ginger, garlic, fennel seed, cinnamon, clove, mustard seed, green cardamom, black cardamom, mace, nutmeg, red pepper, long pepper, and black pepper may also be added.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Curry Powder".