Vietnamese Curry Powder (Bot Ca Ri Viet)
The kitchen will smell heavenly as you make this curry powder. It's dreamy and will get you dreaming about cooking up beautiful, aromatic food full of flavor. One batch makes about about ¾ cup (180ml).
Ingredients
Big spices
- 20 g | 4 ½ tablespoon coriander seeds
- 8 g | 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 6 g | 1 big cinnamon stick
- 3 g | 16 star anise petals
- 3 g | 1 ½ tablespoon seeded dried Kashmiri or New Mexico Chilies, snipped no bigger than ½ inch (1.25 cm)
- .5g | 10 whole cloves
Medium spices
- 12 g | 2 tablespoon cumin seeds black or regular
- 6 g | 1 ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
- 5.5 g | 1 ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 6 g | 1 ½ teaspoon mustard seeds black, brown, or yellow
- 1 g | ½ teaspoon cardamom seeds Chinese black, black, or green
Ground spices
- 16 g | 1 ½ tablespoon ground turmeric
- 5 g | 2 teaspoon packed ground ginger
- 2 g | ½ teaspoon ground garlic
Instructions
- Toast whole spices: Put the big spices (coriander to cloves) into a medium skillet. Set over medium heat, then toast, stirring often, until mildly fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Lower the heat to medium-low, add all the medium spices (from cumin to cardamom seeds), then toast, stirring, until all spices are fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool until room temperature, about 10 minutes.
- Grind and mix: Put the toasted whole spices in a spice grinder and grind to a pulverized powdery state. Transfer to a bowl, add the ground spices (turmeric, ginger and garlic), and stir to combine. Use immediately or store in a capped jar for up to 3 months in the cupboard or freeze for up to 1 year.
Notes
If you want to tweak the curry powder, taste it with a little salt so you can detect flavor nuances better. Then add spices notes here and there to obtain a blend of your own!
