Homemade Mild Yellow Curry Powder Recipe

We are a big fan of curry around here, so we make it often. It’s easy to mix up a batch of this homemade yellow curry powder recipe instead of buying it ready-made. 

This homemade taco seasoning is another easy DIY spice hack for your pantry.

First, let’s be clear. The curry we make here isn’t traditional Indian food. Or Thai food. It’s generally a combination of ingredients that we have on hand, combined with flavorful curry powder and coconut milk. It’s never the same thing twice.

Actually, maybe that IS how clever home cooks in India make their curry — as a way to use up what’s on hand. 

In any case, we make it a lot, as my son is dairy free and curry is delicious made with coconut milk, an ingredient that makes our curry lean a little more to the Thai side of the curry spectrum.

What is Curry Powder?

You might think that curry powder is straight out of Indian cuisine, but this is not so. In Indian cuisines, a curry is a sauce or gravy served with vegetables or meat. The curry seasoning that’s familiar to so many of us actually has quite a long history that goes back to the British colonization of India. 

Making this Yellow Curry Powder Recipe

This easy curry powder is a mild seasoning, but if you prefer more spice you can add heat by stirring in some cayenne powder. It uses both whole spices and ground spices, resulting in a delicious seasoning mix.

If you maintain a well-stocked spice cabinet, you can pull this recipe together when you need it, thus eliminating a trip to the store!

Ingredients

Coriander seed — The seed of a cilantro plant, but don’t worry. If you’re a cilantro hater, coriander bears no resemblance in flavor to fresh cilantro. If you wish to use ground coriander, use 5 tablespoons.

Cumin seed — You might recognize cumin from making your favorite chili recipe. It’s essential for curry powder, too.

Turmeric — This is the spice that gives the curry powder its yellow color. I use my homemade ground turmeric powder.

Black pepper — Your favorite table top black pepper will work perfectly. No need to get anything fancy.

Chili powder — A mild chili powder blend provides lots of flavor with minimal heat. If you’d like to amp up the spice level, you can add an extra teaspoon (or two!) of cayenne pepper.

Ginger — Dried ginger provides its own little flavor kick.

Process

There’s nothing to it! Combine all of the ingredients together in a blender carafe and process until finely ground. 

You could use a food processor, but the results may be somewhat more coarse. 

Store this yellow curry powder in an airtight container for up to six months.

Using Curry Powder

You can use this seasoning mixture in any recipe that calls for yellow curry powder, especially any that requires a curry sauce. But you can also use it to flavor the unexpected! 

• Sprinkle it on homemade fries before you bake them.
• Make curried chicken salad.
• Try this curried rice salad.

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