Madras curry powder is a beautifully balanced blend of fragrant spices. Start with a gentle hum of heat or go full-on fiery—choose your chili adventure.
Using a mortar and pestle or a heavy pan, crush the cinnamon into a couple of pieces.
In a dry skillet over medium-low heat add the whole dried chilies and toast until fragrant. If you are substituting ground red chili, skip this step. Toast them until they are fragrant. This will take a minute or two.
Add all the other spices (EXCEPT the turmeric) and toast for 2 to 3 minutes, shaking the pan constantly so that the spices toast evenly. Continue until they are fragrant and the fennel and coriander turn slightly darker. Depending on your pan and stove, this takes at least 2, and up to 5 minutes. It goes quickly so don’t walk away because the spices can burn and then you will need to start over.
Immediately pour the spices into your spice blender, or mortar and pestle, so they can cool quickly.
While the spices are cooling, measure the turmeric (and ground chili if using instead of whole chilies) and place it into a lidded container large enough to hold the finished spice mix.
Grind the toasted spices into a fine powder using a spice (coffee) grinder, or mortar and pestle. Mix thoroughly with the turmeric.
Store the Madras curry powder in a cool, dark place for up to two months. Freezing the powder will keep it fresh for up to six months. You will know when the Madras powder is no longer good to use when it no longer smells fragrant.
Notes
Be sure to buy good-quality spices for your Madras curry powder.
Choose your desired heat level: I like to use 2 Kashmir chilies and then in my recipe, another one teaspoon of ground Kashmiri chili. If you don't have whole chilies, use 1 teaspoon to one tablespoon of Kashmiri chili powder. OR, because it is much hotter, 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of cayenne. DO NOT toast the chili powders. If using whole dried chilies you can shake out most of the seeds, which will remove some of the heat.
If using fresh curry leaves: Wash and dry thoroughly and toast by itself in a dry pan until lightly brown and completely dry.
When toasting the spices, use medium-low heat so as to allow the essential oils from the spices to be activated before they get too brown. Don't be tempted to use a higher heat because moderate heat gives time for the flavors to develop.