Does shop bought curry powder contain garam masala powder?

Sid

Surely the basic ingredients of garam masala (say) cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, bay & cardamoms, would also be individual components of a basic curry powder anyway?

They won't add "garam masala" as an ingredients, but will use most if not all of the things that go into it...

and a lot of other stuff (some probably not normally seen anywhere near Indian food... in some mixes)

Steve

Don't forget the additives;

I just looked at a couple of boxes of 'curry' mixes. I do very occasionally add a bit, just to add a bit of spice, towards the end of cooking something, when it doesn't taste 'quite there'. It is not a curry powder though, it is usually something like a Korma mix or a particular, named curry mix, made by people like Mangal or Shan etc. They are usually quite hot and should be used in moderation only, as part of your general curry spices. They are excellent to take with you when you are travelling in some remote part of the world and can't carry your kitchen sink with you ;-), may be camping, when you may need to cook something with limited equipment. I made one of my best potato curries I have ever tasted (!) in Mongolian Steppes, in a camp in the middle of nowhere, on a little tin stove carried by our guides!

Here is the list of ingredients from such pakets;

chilli

Paprika

Cumin

Coriander

Turmeric

Musk Melon

Papain (probably chemical, not papaya powder)

Roasted chick peas (to make gravy thicker I suppose)

Green cardamoms

Brown cardamom

Clove

Mace

Black pepper

cinnamon

garlic

Ginger

all spice

Dill seeds

Natural AND artificial food flavours

Screw Pine (It is the essence of a flower, called Kewra or Kevda (the sound somewhere is halfway between v and w). It is generally used in desserts/Biryanies. Those of you who attended the last course, smelled it in a glass bottle.

I only asked because someone had given me a small jar of home made curry powder to try. I think it was from a Pat Chapman cookery book. It smells nice, but when I used it yesterday there was a really strong bitterness to it. I assume that there is too much fenugreek seed in it. I know turmeric can make something bitter if over used, but this powder doesn't look very yellow. Still, the toilet enjoyed it though. It also seemed as if it needed something to lift it up, which I assume would be the garam spices. Lets put it this way, the tomatoes were the dominant flavour.

I looked at some of the ingredients in shop bought masalas and some of them use caraway. I didn't know that caraway is an Indian spice and I would have thought that it would impart a really strong flavour to anything it is in. I do use it but I have never used it in Indian cooking.

Sid.

caraway is not an Indian spice, but I did buy some in a supermarket in Bangalore, it was labeled 'cake seed'. I was assured by someone at the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens that caraway is not grown in India as a cash crop, but may be found along the road side. It is usually confused with black cumin in Indian cookery books.

Papain is the name of the enzyme in papaya (paw paw) that is used to tenderize meat.