Curry

Indian cooks rarely use commercially blended curry powder but rely instead on their own mixtures of freshly ground and roasted spices. Most of these mixtures, including the curry powder we buy in the United States, contain from five to 20 spices ground together. Although store-bought curry powder is easy to use and a delicious flavoring for soups and other dishes, the best curries are always made with freshly ground spices with the quantities of each spice varying according to the dish. The best premade curries are actually pastes rather than powders.