Curry Powder and Recipes

Curry powder is a blend of selected spices from various curry leaves and seeds and mixed to form an often yellowish powder with mild to strong pungent but tantalizing flavour. Ingredient used includes a mixture of turmeric, coriander leaves, ginger, cayenne, cumin, fenugreek, nutmeg, pepper, fennel seeds, cinnamon, green cardamom, and garlic in varying proportions.

Also known as masala powder, this powdery blend of spices was first made by the British Colonial masters in India, who fell in love with curry meals in India, and sought ways of bringing the flavour and taste of curries to loved ones at home, as announced by the East Indian Company to its London officials in the Times newspaper of 27 March 1811.

Depending on the selection of spice type and composition, various curry powder types have been described, including:

• African curry powder
• Jamaican curry powder
• Malaysia curry powder
• Madras curry powder
• Chinese curry powder and
• Babas curry powder

Curry powder is commonly used in cooking all across African. It is used in seasoning meat, fish, and preparing stews and soup along with dried thyme leaves.

Apart from bringing great taste to dishes, curry has been demonstrated to have great health benefits.

You can enjoy a wholesome curry meal the African way today by cooking your next African meal using this powder.

It is a shame that many do not associate curry meals with Africans. A search on Wikipedia online encyclopaedia listed curry meals as popular with all other people, and no mention was made of Africans! This has to change.

Little seems to be known of the special mix of curry spices referred to as African curry powder.

The plurality of Jamaican curry recipes are a loud testimony to the fact that Africans eat curry far more than what many would want to think be it at home in Accra, Abuja, Abidjan, Kampala, Mogadishu, Johannesburg or abroad in New Orleans, Kingston, London, Madrid, Moscow, New Delhi, Brazil or Queensland.

The Afro-Asiatic Hamitic common origin has continued to influence not just the sights and sounds of Africa and Asia, but a similar culinary taste and craving. Curries are thus eaten and enjoyed by Africans daily. Fact!

But what exactly is a curry?

The word curry simply means a vegetable or meat meal eaten with rice. It is derived from a South Indian Tamil language word kaari, which could mean a vegetable dish cooked with spices and coconut amongst the vegetarian population. Non-vegetarians also eat a karee meal of gravy and meat.

So pick your choice. You could have a vegetarian curry and a non-vegetarian curry.

In modern times and terms though, the curry has metamorphose to mean a spicy gravy blend of different strength used in preparing various curry recipes.

African Curry Powder

This is seldom heard of. African curry powder do exists, and it is different in some respect from the traditional Indian or English curry powder.

African curry powder is made with more pepper, and can be made at home from:

• 1 ½ teaspoon full of ground ginger
• 1 ½ teaspoon full of ground garlic
• 1 tablespoon full of ground coriander seeds (also called cilantro – native to Africa)
• 1 tablespoon full of dried cumin leaves
• 1 tablespoon full of ground turmeric
• ½ teaspoon full of cayenne
• ½ teaspoon full of hot chilli powder