QuoteI share your bewilderment (if that's your position) over why curry powder is used and then has the balance altered by the addition of further ingredients, most of which are already in the curry powder. It seems a strange approach but if it produces the BIR flavours we love, why question it, or try and improve on what 1000s of BIRs do, by blending your own mix, just to be different? There are so many unknowns in trying to produce superior BIR flavours - so many other other things to be working on - why bother opening this aspect that's more or less agreed, signed-off and put to bed.

I fully understand what you are saying, but I will not be making that many BIR curries, so the only use I will have for a curry powder would me to make the mix powder. I was just curious if anyone had made mix powder without the curry powder for that reason only, not to be different.

Quote from: Phil (Chaa006) on January 27, 2012, 11:52 PM
I almost never use curry powder, Mark, although I did make a curry a couple of months ago that used nothing but, and it was fine if a bit bland.  My normal spices are ground chilli (degghi mirch and/or Kashmiri mirch), cumin and ground fenugreek, but for a greater depth of flavour I augment the chilli with Bassar curry masala (which is about as unlike a normal curry powder as you can get).

** Phil.

Thanks, Phil.

Quote from: George on January 28, 2012, 12:35 AM

Quote from: NagaMark on January 27, 2012, 09:08 PM
I am curious why the mix powder that is mentioned has to contain curry powder.

Welcome to the forum. Most mix powder recipes on this site contain curry powder because that's what we believe most BIRs to do. I believe it's as simple as that. Since we're trying to emulate BIR cuisine, we just follow suit.

Yeah, George, I hear ya!! I was just curious if anyone had come up with a mix that doesn't use curry powder. Looking at some of the mix recipes and the ingredients in a curry powder (lets say rajah)...there only appears to be a few spices missing in the ingredients before the addition of curry powder - fenugreek, bengal gram (which I imagine could be substituted with basan), mustard and salt. I will try knocking up a mix powder that uses no curry powder and I will post the recipe and results.

Thanks for replying, guys.

Hi guys. I have been cooking authentic Indian for the last 19 years but I'm reasonably new to the BIR cooking. I have dabbled with it in the past, but I always got fed up of making the base. I can knock up a base, but I am curious why the mix powder that is mentioned has to contain curry powder. I never buy curry powder so I was wondering if anyone makes this stuff without the addition of curry powder, and if so, what are the results.

Cheers guys.