Sometimes even experienced cooks can get confused between garam masala vs curry powder. After all, both are used in Indian cooking and they seem to be a staple ingredient in many dishes. How different could the ingredients be, after all?
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You may be surprised to learn that they are actually very different spices, comprising different ingredients. As a matter of fact, curry powder is not even popularly used in Indian kitchens. It was originally a British concoction to give an Indian flavor to their foods.
Comparing Garam Masala vs Curry Powder
Garam Masala Benefits for Health
The whole spices that make up the garam masala blend affect your health positively. Some of the benefits include:
What are the Usages of Garam Masala?
Garam masala is very versatile spice mix. While the flavor profile will vary and depend on the number and quantity of each ingredient in the blend - and there is no fixed formula for this - you can typically use it in dishes such as:
Indian foods:
Even though both spices are Indian, there is no reason you cannot add it to western dishes. You can use this spice mix in foods like
As you can see, there are many usages of both spices. While you can check out the many blends available, buying an organic garam masala will give you better flavors and more health benefits. When you check the finer details of both spices you realize that they are quite dissimilar in terms of taste, flavor, aroma and end results.
Recommended article: Organic Garam Masala
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Spices brighten up our meals and give us those fabulous aromas we expect of modern day cooking. To early traders spices were as valuable as gold and a definite luxury only the extremely rich could afford. Luckily today we can all enjoy their rich aromas and flavors.
Spices come from the buds, bark, stems, roots, berries and seeds of plants. Generally every part of the plant that we use in cooking is termed a spice, except the leaf. The leaves are classified as herbs.
This sometimes results in the same plant giving us both spices and herbs, like cilantro (coriander).
While we often prefer to use herbs fresh, spices we tend to use dried. As it is the drying process of spices, that causes natural occurring enzymes within the plant to activate and form volatile oils. This in turn is what creates the aromas and exotic flavors.
Whole spices tend to keep longer than ground spices. So it is often best to buy the whole spice and grind it yourself especially if it is a spice you don't use often. Plus the aroma of freshly ground spices are delectable.
When storing your spices, make sure you keep them away from direct sunlight. Also try to avoid extremes in temperature and humidity.
Spices are generally grouped into five categories based on flavor - sweet; tangy; pungent; hot and amalgamating. How we combine them and in what quantities, is what gives us our amazing range of tastes.
In order to become proficient at using spices, we need to know a little about each group. And in turn how to mix them, it's easy. Just think of how we mix sweet and sour and how we use salt and pepper.
Sweet Spices
Well just as the name says these are the ones we associate with sweet dishes and desserts. They are also added to savory recipes to balance up other spice flavors. They do vary in strength and one can determine this with a quick sniff.
Sweet spices include allspice, aniseed, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla.
Tangy Spices
These spices tend to have a distinctly acidic flavor thus the tangy name. When using these spices you can reduce the amount of lemon juice or vinegar in spice for pork the recipe due to their own acidic flavor.
Each of the tangy spices have a distinct flavor which is unique and combines well to produce exotic flavors.
Tangy spices include sumac and tamarind.
Pungent Spices
These spices add a vibrant element to a dish. Some are strong and only a small amount is needed but don't let this put you off, as they are very useful.
Characterized by a strong flavor the pungent spices include cardamom, cloves, cumin, fenugreek, ginger, nigella seed and saffron.
Hot Spices
These should be used sparingly. It is often the hot spice that causes a dish to be termed "spicy".
The first hot one we think of is probably chilli but also included is horseradish, pepper and mustard.
Amalgamating Spices
Called amalgamating spices because they fit in well with nearly every other flavor. They are generally mild tasting but perform an important role in uniting flavors.
These include coriander seed, fennel seed, paprika, poppy seeds and tumeric.
Until our next Spicy Encounter
Enjoy Cooking!
Lisa "The Crock Cook"