Spices always curry favor in this cuisine

For the two of us a half-chicken is sufficient for a meal, and even then there is some meat left over, usually white meat.

I always have a dilemma of what to do with the leftovers. I freeze them and accumulate several packages to make another meal.

Recently I decided make chicken curry using the leftover chicken. So I cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks and used my microwave shrimp curry recipe, substituting chicken. (The recipe follows.)

I have made my own curry powder combination, but it is so much easier to use the already-blended variety. There are several varieties available in most gourmet markets.

Premium blends

Today curry powder blends are the main seasoning for curries. However, the powder blend is not actually a seasoning, although it is sold in jars in the spice section of supermarkets. Curry blends usually consist of several spices — usually five to 10 spices, but there can be as many as 40.

Curries are based on the traditional cooking of India. At the time the British ruled India, they had problems feeding the native Indian troops. The Muslims did not eat pork, while some Hindus ate meat and some were vegetarians. Fortunately, curry sauce provided an easily adaptable seasoning for the basic rice or bread eaten by the troops. Over time, curry sauce rose in importance and became the name of the dishes seasoned with the sauce.

Early mentions

Although curries did not become popular in Europe until the late 1500s, they are mentioned in the writings of India as early as 477 A.D. The word curry is an adaptation of “kari,” which comes from the Southeast Asian dialect Tamil. Curry appears in the English language in the 16th century, when English explorers tasted curry while stopping in India on the way to the Far East.

Commercial curry powder, despite its popular association with India, is a Western invention. Some brands may be produced in India, but they are rarely used there. The idea of resorting to a commercially mass-produced powder, as opposed to a careful selection of specific spices to complement a particular food, is unthinkable for the Indian cook, who daily grinds or bruises his or her selection of spices into a paste with a little water.

The ingredients and proportions are entirely dependent on the judgment of the cook and the kind of curry he or she is going to make. There are hundreds of variations of curry dishes in the various regions of India.

Certain spices are always used in curry powder.

They include turmeric, fenugreek, cumin seeds, coriander and red or cayenne pepper.

Beyond that curry powder also may include allspice, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, fennel, ginger, mace, yellow mustard seeds and black or white pepper.

The various combinations and amounts determine the flavor of the curry.

Before the early 16th century, curries and curry powders were made without red peppers.

When Columbus discovered America he also discovered many members of the great capsicum family — the pod peppers from which red pepper is made.

Word of this new spice spread as fast as ships could sail, and within a decade capsicums were brought to India by the Portuguese. It was at this time that curries became hot.

Curry powder is probably the world’s earliest spice blend. Rare cookbooks from 200 years ago call for curry powder in Indian-style dishes.

The well-known Williamsburg cookbook has a recipe for gumbo dating from 1837, which calls for curry powder to season the chicken used in the gumbo.

A century earlier a sea captain taught the women of Charleston, S.C., how to make Country Captain Chicken using his own curry spice blend.

The best-known Indian spice mixture for curries is garam masala.

It is not a curry powder, but a spice mixture whose name means “the warming spices.”

There is no set formula for this, as each Indian family determines the selection of spices and then grinds them. Before grinding, however, the spices are heated and slightly roasted to bring out their flavors.

Garam masala is added to a dish near the end of the cooking process and is never the complete seasoning of a dish.

Most other curry powders, which contain hot spices such as red pepper and ginger, are added at the beginning of the cooking process so that the hot flavors permeate the dish.

Two other well-known curry mixtures are Bombay and Madras. Both contain hot chilies.

The Bombay mixture includes cinnamon, and both of the mixtures include ginger and turmeric.

The ginger adds more hotness and the turmeric gives a slightly musty flavor to balance the sharpness of the curry powder.

It also imparts a yellow color.

My microwave Chicken Curry is simple and easy to prepare.

Shrimp may be substituted for the chicken.

Microwave Chicken Curry

½ green pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces

½ red pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 small jalapeño pepper, seeds removed, then chopped

1 stalk celery, cut into 1-inch pieces

4 large mushrooms, cut in half, then sliced

2 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1½ tablespoon curry powder

¾ cup chicken broth

¾ cup milk

2½ cups leftover chicken, cut into bite-size pieces

In a microwavable dish with cover (or use plastic wrap) place the peppers, celery, mushrooms, ginger, cinnamon and butter.

Microwave on high for six minutes.

Stir in the flour, curry powder, chicken broth, and milk. Stir to combine. Add the chicken.

Cover the dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

Stir to smooth out the sauce. Serve with rice. Serves 4.