Curry Powder

Thanks to the British, it is generally assumed today that curry is a spice used to flavor a wide variety of spicy dishes, but in fact the original Tamil word (the language from the southern part of India) “kari” translates to soup or sauce, and is most often associated with a dish cooked in a spicy sauce. But legend has it that the British, who were involved in the early Indian spice trade, mistakenly applied the term "curry" to every mixture of spices used in the flavoring of these dishes, and it has kept this altered meaning ever since.

Curry powder is also often thought to only be hot and spicy but as is the case when there are a multitude of various family recipes and a wide a variety of spices involved, many of these blends can also be a bit on the mild side, still loaded with spicy flavor but not neccessarily be hot. And while each variety of curry powder may have similar base spices the subtle differences of each additional spice (in different amounts to boot) makes each curry blend unique.

SpicesInc.com offers a full selection of curry powders to suite just about every taste preference from the simple medium heat intensity of our popular regular Curry Powder to an Organic Curry Powder that is also of medium intensity. You will also find that we stock a  Sweet Curry Powder (also considered by most to be a mild). The sweet curry is flavorful but with little heat and can be used in any dish that calls for curry powder. Our Hot Curry Powder packs a nice punch but it won’t knock you out and having you searching for a glass of milk (like you need when you try some of our hot chilies).

More recently there have been several more curries that have gained in popularity. One is the northern India influenced Garam Masala which literally translates to hot spice but it is really a spice blend. We also stock an Organic Garam Masala as well. A Garam Masala is most often added toward the end of the cooking process to enhance the taste of the other ingredients and to better capture the complete aroma of the dish. Another emerging spice blend is the Moroccan style curry Ras El Hanout. The name translates to "head of the shop" and often refers to a blend of the top quality spices a seller has to offer. It is frequently used as a rub for meats and also mixed into rice or couscous. From southern India comes Madras Curry which is frequently used in braises, marinades and suaces. So no matter what curry flavoring you are most fond of you will find one to satisfy your taste buds here.