Spicy without heat - my homemade sweet curry powder!

[csziggy]

As I've gotten older I've gotten more and more sensitive to capsaicin - the stuff that makes peppers hot. Anything on the Scoville scale not only blisters my lips, it makes me sick for a couple of days.

So I thought my days of enjoying curry dishes were over - but then I found a recipe for a sweet curry. I mixed some up last week and tonight tried it for the first time. Yum! The chicken curry I made was not anything special, but the curry mix was great. It still has a kick, just not a capsaicin kick.

Here is what I mixed up:

3 teaspoons powdered turmeric
2 teaspoons powdered coriander
1.5 teaspoons powdered cumin
1/2 teaspoon powdered cardamon
3/4 teaspoon powdered mustard
1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon powdered cloves
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon powdered nutmeg
11/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
(optional) 1/8 teaspoon cayenne (obviously I left this out)

For dinner tonight I diced a small sweet onion, cooked it in olive oil over medium heat until translucent. At some point while the onion was cooking, I added about 1.5 teaspoons of my curry powder. Then I stirred in 2 cups of cooked, diced chicken breast (that's what I had in the freezer, I could have used raw chicken breast cut up instead, it would have had plenty of time to cook through) and some College Inn Thai Coconut Curry Broth (the recipe I was improvising from used coconut milk, which I didn't have). Simmered that for a while then added a 16 ounce bag of frozen vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots). Simmered until the vegetables were just cooked and broth was reduced. Stirred in a small container of vanilla yogurt (should have been plain, but apparently the local supermarket doesn't carry plain - or my husband can't find it). Served it over brown rice cooked with more of the College Inn broth. Mango chutney on the side.

My original worry was that the curry mix would be too sweet - not at all! It was very spicy and had a nice kick, but not that unpleasant burning that hot peppers give. Even the sweetened vanilla yogurt didn't make it too sweet and just blended with the other flavors.

I can eat curry again! Maybe never again in a restaurant so long as this "spicy means hot" trend is going, but I can make my own!

[Warpy]

1. We're polar opposites

I'd probably load it up with cayenne and cut down on the turmeric, something I hate the taste of as well as its staining properties.

Otherwise, looks good.

[csziggy]

2. About two thirds of the curry mixes I found online were heavily loaded with peppers

Cayenne or chili were the most popular. I spent a couple of hours searching and narrowed it down to seven mixes that did not rely on hot pepper for the main ingredient. I even threw out the ones that relied on paprika - if I want a lot of paprika, I'll make a Hungarian recipe, LOL!

I've always liked spicy foods, but as hot pepper got more popular, I reacted to it more. My mouth blisters, my lips tingle and swell, and my entire digestive tract feels as though those effects are happening all the way through to the very end. Last time I made curry with a purchased curry powder, I felt really, really bad for three days. No more capsaicin for me!

On the other hand, I love turmeric. The staining is a pain, since I don't want it on my hands when I am working silk embroideries that can't be washed. I was growing some, but the cold winters over the last few years killed it off, I think. I'm tempted to increase the ginger next time - I like the kick from it.

Some of the recipes called for aniseed or fenugreek, but I didn't have any of those in my spice drawer. I'm not sure if I look for either to try in the future - they might add another level to the flavor.

[F4lconF16]

3. Wonderful!

You and I are much the same. I can't stand the flavor, feel, or the eventual unpleasantness of peppery stuff. I like a hot sauce once in a very rare while. I'm a big fan of the warm spice though it sounds delicious, I'll have to make it!

[csziggy]

4. I was worried it would be too sweet

With the cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. But it really has a kick. Hmmm, I bet some mace would be good in it, too. I like to add mace to my beef stew - got that out of a medieval recipe and it adds an interesting back flavor.

What's nice about making your own blend is that you can push the flavors you like and reduce or leave out the ones you don't.

A good number of the recipes call for starting with whole spices, toasting them, then grinding, but I had the powdered versions in my spice drawer and needed to use some of them up before they got too old. I took the coffee grinder I used to use for spices to the barn when we had to grind pills for a sick horse so now the only way I have to grind things now is with a mortar and pestle.

I guess I need to price grinders again if I'm going to be making my own blends!

[F4lconF16]

5. What is mace?

All I know is the pepper spray, and that'd be a bit spicy for me

I need to find a good store for spices around here. The ethnic markets tend to have a good variety from what I've seen.

I need to get a grinder as well. The ones I have are designed for larger plant material, not powdering things.

[csziggy]

6. Mace is the dried "lacy" reddish covering or aril of the nutmeg seed

It has a similar flavor, but slightly different:

Nutmeg and mace have similar sensory qualities, with nutmeg having a slightly sweeter and mace a more delicate flavour. Mace is often preferred in light dishes for the bright orange, saffron-like hue it imparts. Nutmeg is used for flavouring many dishes, usually in ground or grated form, and is best grated fresh in a nutmeg grater.


Mace (red) within nutmeg fruit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutmeg

The local natural food co-op has a wonderful selection of bulk herbs and spices where I can get only as much as I need at the time - and I know they are always fresh. The company that supplies them is a local business, one I've been familiar with for over thirty years, so I feel good buying my herbs and spices there.

Ethnic stores and even the ethnic section of some groceries often have nice selections of spices.

A good way to build your selection is to experiment with different cuisines and add the ones you need as you learn to cook with them. I have a little cookbook titled something like "Cooking with Spices" I found decades ago that got me started, but there are plenty of resources on the internet to help you figure out which ones to buy.

Remember, only get as much as you will use within a year - after than many herbs and spices lose their potency, especially the powdered version.

[F4lconF16]

7. Thanks for all the information!

I appreciate the advice

[applegrove]

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