Homemade Curry Powder (Not Spicy)

I don’t like spicy food. Believe me – I really, really wish I did. If I enjoyed spicy food, it would open up a whole new world of flavors for me. There are so many flavor combinations and traditional dishes that center themselves around heavier spices, but sadly, that’s just not in the cards for me. My spice tolerance has always been low – I wasn’t able to chew mint gum until I was in college because it was too spicy for me. MINT. GUM. I roll my eyes at myself sometimes.

I’ve gotten better, but I still can’t tolerate anything beyond mild. It’s too hot for me, and also doesn’t go well with my digestion. Heavy spices, garlic, and onions – what makes food flavorful for most people aren’t on my menu often, or in large amounts. Trust me, though – I’m working on building up my tolerance.

Because of that, I always thought that certain types of cuisine, like Indian food or Thai food, would always be off the table for me. I never bothered to even try it because I assumed it all had to be spicy. As I got older, started cooking for myself, and came across many other cooks, I discovered it didn’t have to be. It wasn’t until this past year that I fell deeply in love with curry. Not just any curry, though – only the “not spicy” curry. Very mild. Green curry tends to be the most mild, but that’s not really what I like. I like yellow curry, but the mild version. While it’s definitely not impossible to find, it’s harder to get ahold of, so I tend to only eat curry when I’m making it for myself or when one of my lovely friends cooks it up for me. I think I ask every person I visit to make me a “not spicy curry.”

After I found out how much I adore curry, I made it my mission to find a curry powder that worked for my taste buds. It was very difficult. Every curry I found at the store had cayenne, red pepper flakes, or too much black pepper for my liking. (Or sugar – don’t get me started.) If it didn’t have any of those, it had a strange undertone in flavor that I didn’t like. I eventually found one in a little spice shop in San Diego, but I quickly ran out. I can’t go to San Diego every time I need to refill my curry powder, so I decided to just start making my own to have stocked in my kitchen!

This recipe is very simple, and I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who make this same thing, which is why this is not typically the type of recipe I post. I try to avoid posting anything I feel is too easy to find elsewhere. However, I have a few recipes coming up that call for curry powder, so I wanted to post this recipe so you can see the exact curry powder I like to use. I know that many of my readers have similar taste buds to mine, and many of you also can’t tolerate anything too spicy! I suggest going to a grocery store that has bulk containers of spices and getting a bit of each of these ingredients rather than buying entire jars. Once you make this batch, it will last you awhile! The best part about making your own spice blends is that you can adjust it to your liking – the sky’s the limit!

Curry powder is great on pretty much every type of meat and vegetable. I especially love it on lamb and chicken. Roast some cauliflower in this and you’ll definitely fall in love. Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, paleo, keto, low-FODMAP, or anything in between, I highly recommend you rotate some curry into your routine. The easiest way to make a lazy girl curry is to put some coconut milk or cream into a mason jar, pour in a few tablespoons of curry powder, and shake it up! Pour that over your food, and you’re in for a real treat.