If you like curry, cooking it yourself is even better than ordering from a restaurant because you will know exactly what went into it. Here are some tips for doing so, and a basic recipe that you can try at the end for chicken curry and rice. (The same masala could be combined with cooked red lentils for dahl if a vegetarian alternative is desired.)
The key to cooking authentic cuisine of any type is to start with the right ingredients. Avoid pre-mixed sauces or spice mixes. “Curry powder” is just one person’s view of what goes into the mix of spices to make a masala. Rather than spending a lot of money for a small jar of “curry powder” that a spice company invented, I recommend buying larger quantities of the relevant spices to make your own. This is both more economical and allows you to customize the mixture to your own personal taste.
Curry powder is basically four ingredients: Turmeric (which is what makes it yellow and is regularly promoted for helping joint health in capsule form); Cumin (the same spice flavor is prevalent and is often used in Texas chili as well as a lot of Mexican cooking, such as fajitas or tacos); Coriander (which, in powder form, is the ground seeds of fresh cilantro – which also is good to consider buying and is much cheaper at your local Indian grocery); and Cayenne (which is also known as chili powder; but this is different than Ancho Chili Powder, which is what you would use in combination with cumin to make Texas chili). For beginners, I recommend buying these in powder form and mixing in the following proportions (adjust the actual amount to the volume of food that you are cooking – an example will be provided at the end): 1 part turmeric, 2 parts cumin, three parts coriander and 1 part cayenne. The resulting mixture will create a yellow curry sauce. For this recipe, let’s assume 1 tsp.
