Friday, June 26, 2009

How to make curry powder at home.


Although dissolving the conversion for the kati and tael measurements in the recipe was a simple task, we realised that following the traditional method of making the curry powder is impracticable and time consuming in today's household. Instead, we have adopted some short cuts and the use of some of the the electrical kitchen gadgets for cooking traditional dishes and recipes at home. These save time spent in the laborious task of pounding wet ingredients in the pestle and mortar and grinding of the dry ingredients on the grinding stone. In this recipe, you can use the ground chili and turmeric powder from the store but the coriander, cumin and fennel are best freshly ground for their aromas. Many of the other spices like the cinnamon, cloves and cardamon pods are used whole and discarded after cooking.


Ingredients to be ground for the traditional homemade curry powder:


600g coriander seeds (ketumbar)

400g cumin seeds (jintan puteh)

200g fennel seeds (jintan manis)

100g peppercorn Ladah puteh)

60g cardamon pods (buah palaga)

30g cloves (bunga cengkeh)

300g dried chili

125g dried turmeric (kunyit kering)

90g cinnamon stick (kayu manis)


The above is a translation of the original recipe which was given in kati and tael and the names of the spices were written in Malay. We have adopted a short cut by purchasing ground chili and turmeric from the store. The cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamon pods are used whole as and when required. To make this homemade curry powder, you only have to ground the coriander, cumin, fennel and peppercorns. Mix the ground ingredient together except the chili powder which is added later according to taste. To make curry paste for an Indian-style curry, mix 2 tablespoons of the mixed powdered spices with 1 dessertspoon of chili powder into a paste with a little water. Add 5 cardamon pods, 5 cloves and 4cm piece of cinnamon.

12 comments:

  1. Mi no lusim memori bilong taste yu kukim curry long PNG.
    So mi trai kukim bihain kam bak Japan from PNG.
    Mi get sampela spice, na brekim hem usim kopi mill, na mekim curry pauda.
    Tasol taste blong hem i narapela kaikai blong yu mekim.

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  2. ↑Mi lusim raitim nem blong mi

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  3. Hi YK,
    Sapos i nogat name bilong yu hemi orait. Bai me save bcos yu tasol writim Pidgin. Haha. Curry pauda b'long kukim abus, kakaruk na mit b'long sipsip hemi no olsem kukim green b'long gaden, na pis b'long solwara tu. Bai dispela toksave long makim curry pauda long kain kain abus em i helpim olgeta manmeri gutpela long makim ol curry pauda hemi bai kam bihain.

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  4. Hi YK,
    Mi hamasmas lukim wanpela wantok long Port Moreseby nau luk luk long blog b'long mi. Mi tok big pela tenyu long hem.
    Plis kam bek luk luk dispela blog bilong mi. Tenyu

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  5. english translation please??

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  6. Hi Uncle Phil

    CandleNut (Pound or blend) can also be use for CHicken curry. It act lik a natural curry thickener so balance out the use of Coconut Milk.....

    Cheers
    PAW

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  7. Hi BY
    Sori tru (I'm sorry) Mi pela tokim Pidgin. There you are. Very soon you'll understand Pidgin. Haha.

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  8. Hi Paw,
    We use Macadamia nuts instead. You get tummy upset with candlenuts. Hehe.

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  9. Remember that you have various of hubs,as if you run Chinese medicine shop.(star anise? that was unique shape)
    Once you cooked for me, it was great,totally different from instant taste. I miss it !

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  10. Mi read pidgin tilblur.
    Nasib baik Uncle Phil first do blog in Ingris odervise mi no gitto kopi kari pauda recepee furkukin. Now mummum burger. Tomoro i meex pauda.
    Ta ta.

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  11. Hi Jaeho,
    Thanks for you visit and comment. We have learnt a lot from you during your stay with us, especially Korean's culture and food. We will share your Korean food recipes in this blog soon.
    Cheers.

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  12. Wantok Vin,
    Wow, pidgin b'long gut pela tru. But it is better we write in Singlish. BY is complaining and requested translation. Let us know about the result of your homemade curry powder.
    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete