Cooking a curry - ingredients

[5029]

Can you buy fenugreek seeds and curry leaves in ordinary shops such as Tescos, or do i need to go to a specialist shop. If so, are there any alternatives i could use which are similar eg how many teasp of curry powder= 1 curry leaf?

[Cactus]

Hi, just answered this here: question 22311 Good luck!

[KARL]

I'm a bit puzzled now. You see, I lived and worked in India for over a year recently and found that what I had previously come across before (i.e. read, heard or was told) that "curry" is actually an English language invention (from there transferred to other European languages) and has nothing to do with native India, seems to be entirely true. Not one Indian who had not been previously exposed to western ideas had ever heard of curry (only tourist eateries served anything by that name) and those who had heard of it told me most insistently that it is unknown in India. Moreover, up to now I have been convinced that there is no single culinary ingredient named "curry" but the commonest one (certainly in India) in southern asian dishes is turmeric (it completely dominates all cooking in that part of the world, not at all unpleasant) and what supplies the "heat" is chili powder (that's the one I ban from my food - I actually prefer to be able to taste all the other flavours, not have my senses anaesthetised by the sledgehammer effect of the chili). So what is it that goes by the name of "curry leaves" ? Good luck in finding it but I would be interested in knowing just what it is exactly.

[WendyW]

Curry powder is simply a mix of Indian Spices .. it is made up so that you don't have to cook and grind the spices each time you want them. Comercial Curry Powder is awful and it is far better to do your own spices .. that way you can adjust them to your taste.

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Curry leaves look very much like Bay leaves, although the taste is not the same BUT my favorite book of Indian Recipes says if Curry leaves are unavailable then use Bay leaves.