With these homemade curry powders and curry pastes, you can quickly make a delicious curry. The recipes are from Britain around 1850, inspired by the Brits’ fascination with Indian flavours at the time.
First make curry powder…
19th-Century Curry Powder
| 2 tablespoons ground turmeric | 1.5 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper |
| 5 teaspoons ground coriander | 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin |
| 2 teaspoons ground ginger | 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom seeds |
| 2 teaspoons cayenne powder | 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves |
Method: Add all the spices to a clean and dry jar, shake to mix, cover with a tight lid and store away from heat and sunlight.
Next make a curry paste
19th-Century Curry Paste
A recipe by Sir James Ranald Martin circa 1850
| 4 tablespoons coriander seeds | 1.5 teaspoons ground ginger |
| 2 tablespoons chana dal or yellow split peas* | 2 teaspoons salt |
| 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorn | 2 teaspoons sugar |
| 1.5 teaspoons whole cumin seeds | 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed |
| 1 tablespoon whole brown mustard seeds | 120ml apple cider vinegar |
| 1 tablespoon ground turmeric | 6 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil |
| 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (chili powder) |
* I didn’t have chana dal so I used a moong dal (split green pea). If you don’t have any dried split peas, just omit from the recipe.
Method:
- Put the coriander seeds, chana dal (if using), peppercorns and cumin in a medium sized heavy frying pan and heat on a medium heat. Stir and roast until you can smell a roast spices aroma. Empty into a bowl and allow to cool. Add the mustard seeds.
- Grind the spices and mustard seeds in a clean coffee grinder or spice grinder. If you do not have a grinder, you can use a small food processor or pestle and mortar, but you will have to grind it as fine as you can.
- Put the spices in a bowl and add the turmeric, cayenne, ginger, salt, sugar, garlic and vinegar. Mix well.
- In a small frying pan, heat the oil gently and fry the mix for about 5 minutes until it has lightly browned. Allow to cool and place in a clean jar. Cover tightly and refrigerate until needed.
It’s curry time….
19th-Century Chicken Curry
Now we can use our curry powder and paste to quickly make a rich curry. All the hard work has been done, so putting this curry together is a breeze. I used chicken, but you can use lamb or beef as well.
| 4 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil | 1.5 tablespoon 19thC Curry Paste |
| 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped | 3 chicken thighs, cut into fairly large pieces. |
| 2 tablespoons 19thC Curry Powder | 3/4 teaspoon salt |
Method:
- In a medium-sized lidded pan, heat the oil on a medium heat. Stir in the onions and fry until lightly browned. Add the curry powder and paste. Stir a few times and add the meat and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir and fry for a minute. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 10 minutes, lifting the lid now again to stir.
- Add 300ml water (if you are using beef or lamb, it will take longer to cook the meat, so add 600ml). Bring to the boil.
- Reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook very gently for about 30 minutes (about an hour or more for beef and lamb) or until the meat is tender and the sauce is thick. Add more water if it is too thick or remove the lid if it is too watery to thicken the sauce.
- Check the seasoning and add more salt if needed.
Resources: our favourite place to buy spices and other Indian ingredients is Ambika Spice. They have a shop in Kuramae and have an excellent online shops. https://www.ambikajapan.com/
Otherwise, there are now lots of spice shops around Shin-okubo Station near Shinjuku.