Curry powder doesn’t have to be complicated to make at home. This one has just 5 ingredients and tastes fabulous in coconut milk based curries. Coriander seeds, cumin and fennel are the basic flavors in this curry powder. Dried red chilies add heat and turmeric gives it color. All you do it toast everything in a pan and then grind. Very easy to make at home!

Look at any store bought curry powder, and you’ll see that coriander is one of the main ingredients. It adds an earthiness, and an unmistakable Indian flavor to curry powder. The cumin in this recipe adds a toasty, smokiness. And fennel seeds brighten up the curry powder.

The ratio of coriander:cumin:fennel is 2:1:1. In other words, if you use 2 tablespoons of coriander seeds, you will need 1 tablespoon of cumin seeds and 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds.

Homemade Curry Powder Recipe

Yields about 5 tablespoons

Ingredients
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
2 or more dried red chilies, broken up into small pieces.
½ teaspoon ground turmeric

Method

1. Place coriander, cumin, fennel seeds and broken up red chilies (discard stems) in a medium pan. Use a pan large enough so that the spices are spread in a thin layer.
2. Toast the spices on medium-low  heat, shaking the pan often, till the spices turn color and get fragrant,  about 12 minutes.
3. Cool the roasted spices. Then using a spice grinder, grind into a fine powder. Add in the turmeric and blend once more till everything is combined.
4. Store in an airtight container for 2 months

Basic Curry Recipe Using Homemade Curry Powder

Serves about 4

Ingredients
Choose 2-3 of the following: 1 medium onion diced, 4 cloves of garlic minced, 1 large tomato diced, 2 teaspoons minced ginger.
1 recipe curry powder (5 tablespoons), see above for recipe
4-5 cups vegetables (Zucchini, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, carrot, spinach, potato, sweet potato, winter squash etc)
1-2 cups water
1 cup coconut milk

Method
Sauté your choice of onion/garlic/ginger/tomato in oil. Add the curry powder and stir for 30 seconds.

Add vegetables, salt and water and cook till vegetables are tender. (Keep in mind that different vegetables cook in different times, so you will have to add the quicker cooking vegetables later).

Stir in coconut milk, bring back to a boil. Turn off heat as soon as the curry boils.

Serve hot with rice, quinoa, roti or bread.

This is a basic formula; vary the recipe to your liking.

For a pumpkin and spinach curry recipe using this curry powder, see this post.

This takes a little longer to make than your average chutney, but well worth the effort. Double cooking  the chutney (once before pureeing, and once after) makes the onion, garlic and tomatoes extra flavorful. I like to add sambar powder to my tomato chutney. Sambar powder is a roasted, powdered blend of spices from south India containing red chilies, coriander seeds, turmeric, lentils and fenugreek. You could leave out the sambar powder if you wish or use only turmeric and chili powder instead.

The recipe below is my ‘special’ version. For a simpler, ’everyday’ version of this tomato chutney, I simply saute the onions, garlic and tomatoes, blend in a blender, temper some black mustard and cumin, add the pureed chutney and cook again. No matter which version I am making, I always twice cook the chutney.

This chutney will freeze well, so if you have a bumper crop of tomatoes this summer, and dont know what to do with them, this is a great option for you. I put the chutney into ice cube trays and place in the freezer. Once they are frozen, I remove the cubes from the tray, put them in a zip lock bag and return to the freezer. This way, you can defrost even tiny quantities of chutney.

Serving tomato chutney with idlis or dosas is traditional. Here, I serve the chutney with pita bread.

Twice Cooked Tomato Chutney with Cumin and Fennel: Recipe

makes about 2 cups

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon each cumin seeds, fennel seeds, black mustard seeds, urad dal (black gram)
1/8 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 dried red chili, optional
1/2 cup curry leaves loosely packed
1 large onion (about 2 cups when diced)
8 pods garlic, peeled
6-8 (about 1 lb) ripe tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon sambar powder

for tempering:
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/8 teaspoon each cumin seeds, fennel seeds, black mustard seeds, urad dal
a few curry leaves

Heat oil in a large wok. Add cumin, fennel, black mustard and urad dal. When the mustard seeds begin to pop, add fenugreek seeds, red chili if using, and curry leaves. Cook for about 30 seconds. Then add chopped onion and garlic. Cook on medium heat for 2 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and cook on medium for about 15 minutes or till the tomatoes are completely soft.

Cool the chutney a little and then puree in a blender, along with sambar powder and 1/2 cup water till smooth. (Make sure to vent the blender lid slightly when blending hot stuff).

Wipe the wok, and heat oil for tempering. Add all tempering ingredients. When the mustard seeds splutter, reduce heat and carefully pour the blended chutney into the wok. Be very careful, the chutney may bubble and splatter. Add salt. Cover the wok and cook the chutney on medium-low for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with idli, dosa or pita bread.

When we went to Turkey, we frequented the bar at the Kybele hotel in Istanbul. The bar tender was a laid back, super friendly guy who even let me make my own drinks at the bar! One night, I wanted to try Raki – an anise/fennel flavored Turkish liquor. I took one sip of it and spat it out. It was terribly strong and tasted awful. “Women don’t like the taste of anise” said the bar tender. I believed him; after all I don’t like liquorice and didn’t like Raki. But all that changed when I first had fennel soup. I loved the light onion flavor of fennel. Fennel is also wonderfully bright, citrusy and mild. I saw a very nice recipe for fennel soup on the eatingclub vancouver blog. I liked that the recipe used white wine. So that’s what Ive done in my recipe as well to concentrate the flavors of the fennel and leeks.

Ingredients

Fennel – 1 bulb
Leeks – 1 stalk
Heavy Cream – 1/2 cup
Wine – 1/2 cup
Water – 3/4 cup
Olive oil – 1 tbsp
Salt – about 1 1/4 tsp
Pepper

Chop the fennel into rough pieces, don’t use the tough top green stalks. Reserve the fennel fronds for garnishing. Chop the leeks and clean them by soaking in cold water to remove the grit.

Heat a pot with olive oil. Add the fennel to the oil and saute for about 10 minutes. Then add the chopped leeks. Cook on medium another 3 minutes.

Add salt and pour in the wine. Increase the heat to high and let most the wine evaporate – about 2-3 minutes. Now pour in the water and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes or till the fennel is soft. Cool the mixture and puree into a smooth soup in a blender. Return to heat, when the soup is hot, turn off heat, stir in the cream and some cracked pepper. Garnish soup with fennel fronds.