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curry powder

curry powder

3 1.6
A mix of ground spices like cumin, coriander, and turmeric used to season food
  • noun
  • /ˈkɜri ˈpaʊdər/
translation icon : pó de curry
  • Stir in curry powder, garam masala, ginger, cumin, cayenne, and salt.
  • teaspoon curry powder
  • tablespoon curry powder
  • tsp curry powder

Examples

  • It smells like curry powder.

  • Add curry powder and cook for one minute more.

    Blog text (4)
  • I like to add curry powder to the cooking onions and garlic. The heat really brings out the flavor of the spice.

    Blog text (4)
  • There are a few ingredients you might not have in your pantry that you'll need: coconut milk, curry powder, and garam masala (Indian spice mix).

    Blog text (18)
  • To enhance the flavor of the dish, sprinkle some curry powder over the vegetables before roasting.

  • She added curry powder to the stew to give it a warm and spicy aroma.

  • This recipe calls for two teaspoons of curry powder to create a rich and savory sauce.

Synonyms

masala
vscurry powder
6 3.9

A mix of ground spices used to add flavour to Indian food

specifies typical ingredients such as cumin coriander and turmeric rather than general flavoring

How Spicy

chili powder
  • US
8 1.7
curry powder
3 1.6
masala
6 3.9
paprika
20 2.5

Surface Forms

curry powder singular
curry powders plural

Morphology

curry + powder

The meaning is directly compositional: 'curry' (a spiced stew or the spices associated with it) combined with 'powder' (a ground, dry substance) yields a ground spice blend used for curry. This noun-noun compound follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reliably infer the MWE refers to a powdered blend of spices.

Etymology

Curry powder comes from the simple idea of many spices ground together into a dry mix. One popular story says cooks mixed cumin, coriander and turmeric into one jar and called it curry powder, so the name today means 'a ready-made mix of ground spices' used to flavor food.