Spicy food lovers worldwide are passionate about Sri Lankan dishes because they stand out from the rest. Their signature curry powder plays a significant role in flavoring traditional Sri Lankan food. So, we thought of sharing a specially tailored Sri lankan roasted curry powder recipe that could bring the authenticity of Ceylon dishes to your home!

This amazing recipe has been passed down from generation to generation in a native Sri Lankan family. Therefore, this is undoubtedly worth trying despite the long list of ingredients and the effort it calls for! So, let’s move on to the recipe.

Sri Lankan curry powder is a particular type of spice blend that adds distinctive spiciness to your dishes. Click on this link and refer to this article to find out what makes it unique.

Simple Homemade Sri Lankan Roasted Curry Powder Recipe!

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Recipe by SpiceRally

Servings

2.5

Cups

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Total time

minutes

SpiceRally collected an extra unique formula for our readers to bring the ultimate goodness of a tailored Sri lankan roasted curry powder recipe. This wholesome spice blend is so good whenever you need to make spicy meat curries, ground meat or fish fillings, savory baked goods, and even to finish a coconut milk-based hearty soup!

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Ingredients

Spices & Herbs
1 cup 1 Coriander seeds
1/2 cup 1/2 Cumin seeds
1/4 cup 1/4 Fennel seeds
1 tsp 1 Black mustard seeds
1 tsp 1 Fenugreek seeds
1 tsp 1 Black peppercorns
4 4 Cloves
5 pods 5 Green cardamom
1 piece 1 Cinnamon (about a 1-inch piece)
4 sprigs 4 Curry leaves
1 piece 1 Pandan leaves (about a 2-inch piece)
Other ingredients
1 tsp 1 Mysore dal
1 tsp 1 Chana dal
1 tsp 1 White sesame seeds
1 tbsp 1 Desiccated coconut
1 tsp 1 White Basmati rice (uncooked)
Equipment
1 1 Saucepan
1 1 Plate (large)
1 1 Wooden Spatula
1 1 Grinder
1 1 Air-tight glass container
1 1 Kitchen towel
1 1 Mesh sieve

Directions

To begin with, keep the pan over medium-low heat and add the uncooked white basmati rice once the pan is heated. Toast the rice grains until brown and fragrant. Remove from the pan and transfer them to a separate large plate.
Next, toast the desiccated coconut until aromatic and changes to a golden brown color. Take them off the pan and put them on the same plate with the rice grains.
Now, extract the curry leaves from the sprigs and put them in the hot pan along with the pandan leaves. Break the pandan leaves into smaller pieces so they will take a little time to toast. Watch them out, as they tend to burn soon. Take the herbs out of the pan and put them away on the toasted-ingredient plate once crunchy and aromatic.
Then add chana dal to the frying pan and toast them until brown and fragrant, stirring constantly. Remove the chana dal from the pan and transfer them to the plate to cool down.
After toasting chana dal, you can toast your Mysore dal. Toast them as you did with chana dal; until they are slightly brown and aromatic. Remove them from the pan and put them away on the plate.
Continue toasting the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, and black peppercorns separately until brown and fragrant. Remove them from the pan after toasting and transfer them to the plate.
Then, add the green cardamom pods to the same pan and let them toast for about 30 seconds, then add the cloves and cinnamon to the same toasting session and remove them all at once when everything is brown and fragrant. Put them away on the plate to cool down.
As the last toasting session, add the black mustard seeds and toast them until they start popping. Switch off the flame and add in the sesame seeds. Stir both spices until the sesame seeds are aromatic and toasty. Remove them and transfer them to the same spice plate.
Once all the ingredients are toasted, let them cool down on the large plate for about 5 more minutes.
Then, wipe the jar of your grinder with a clean kitchen towel and prepare to grind up your curry powder. You can work in batches if you have a small grinder.
Grind everything to a fine powder until all the ingredients are well incorporated.
Run the curry powder through a fine mesh sieve and re-grind if you have any large lumps of spices, herbs, and grains.
Transfer the mixture to a glass air-tight spice container/ jar immediately and close the lid as soon as you empty the content to the container.

Notes and suggestions

It is important to remember that maintaining the flame on medium-low heat and stirring your ingredients constantly while toasting is crucial to toast the ingredients to the right point. Toasting defines the quality of this roasted curry powder recipe.
Feel free to adjust the number of black peppercorns and cloves you use in your recipe. You can even omit them if they make this blend too spicy.
You might have trouble finding curry leaves if you are living in a western country. But sometimes, you might find dried curry leaves in the international spice aisle of the supermarket. However, if you’re living in the USA, you’ll find curry leaves at Patel Brothers, an Indian store. But these are not the actual curry leaves used in Sri Lanka. Yet they still could work in your curry powder.
You can find pandan leaves in Korean stores. But feel free to skip it if you fail to find it around.
Double the ingredients if you need to make a larger batch.
Always store your homemade roasted curry powder in a well-filling glass container and keep it in a cool, dry, dark place. Refrigeration is not recommended. You can save this spice blend flavorful and aromatic for up to 1 month.