Curry spice blend made with spices, herbs and lentils. This curry powder adds subtle flavors to your vegetarian curries/ stews without using a tons of aromatic spices. To use in meat recipes, you can follow the Madras curry powder recipe in another recipe card below.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Total time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 6 · 6 tablespoons
  • Category: Condiment
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons (10 grams) coriander seeds
  • ½ teaspoon (1 gram) black pepper corn ((use more for flavor & heat))
  • 2 to 3 dried red chilies ((use more for heat, or chili powder / flakes to taste))
  • ½ tablespoon (5 grams) cumin seeds
  • 1½ teaspoon (4.5 grams) fennel seeds
  • ½ teaspoon (2 grams) fenugreek seeds
  • ½ teaspoon (2 grams) mustard seeds
  • 1 tablespoon (14 grams) Bengal gram (/ chana dal sub with toor dal/ urad dal/ rice)
  • 1 to 2 (10 to 20 leaves) sprigs curry leaves
  • ¼ teaspoon organic turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon organic ground ginger ((optional))
  • 1 star anise
  • 1 (1 gram) two inch piece Ceylon cinnamon ((not cassia))
  • 4 cloves
  • 5 (2 grams) green cardamoms

Method

How to Make Curry Powder

  1. Add coriander seeds, black pepper, dried red chilies, star anise, cinnamon, cloves and cardamoms to a hot pan. Roast them on a low to medium heat until coriander seeds turn crunchy.
  2. To the same pan, add cumin seeds and fennel seeds. Toast until they begin to smell earthy. Remove to a cooling tray.
  3. Add fenugreek seeds and toast on a low heat until they change their color to deep golden & begin to smell nutty. Stir in the mustard and toast just for a minute. Transfer to the cooling tray.
  4. Roast the lentils/raw rice on a low to medium heat until aromatic, deep golden or light brown. Transfer to the cooling tray. If using rice, do not brown.
  5. Add the curry leaves and toast them until crisp. Turn off and transfer.
  6. Add the turmeric and dried ginger if using to a grinder jar along with all the cooled ingredients. Powder them fine.
  7. Transfer to an air tight glass jar and use as needed. If making a larger batch, store in smaller jars to retain the freshness.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.