Any Vadouvan Fans?

We have a plethora of Indian restaurants here in Vancouver and so indulge in curry dishes fairly often. One thing we don't seem to have is vadouvan spice blend which is milder than the average curry blend, and it originates in France, apparently brought back from various French possessions around the world. I wondered is any of the cooks here use it or like it.

Here's a comment on it:

Vadouvan curry is delicately flavored and will feel more familiar to American palates than some traditional curries. It packs a delicate, savory yet sweet flavor with a kick of heat, perfect for chicken and vegetables, yet bold enough to stand up to the richer flavors of lamb, goat, and dairy.

Never heard of it before. I found a few recipes for it online. It seems to be a more elaborate version of English curry powder, but with some aromatics (minced shallots, onion, garlic) as well.

-Paul W.

Never heard the name.

Not interested either. I want chillies: my current most ordered dish is Garlic Chilli Chicken Masala - Tandoori chicken tikka cooked with garlic and fresh green chillies in a spicy hot sauce

[Jenise]

Yes, and I love it. However I believe it's Middle Eastern/Arabic in origins, not Indian. A problem is, like many spice blends, there's large variation. I've never been able to find anything close to the first one I bought and loved--even when I re-ordered from the same company I bought the first one from. Our local middle eastern market has several variations, each named for the country they were imported from. I bought some recently and chose Lebanese based on what I sniffed through the plastic. I plan to season a bean soup with it soon.

We picked up a small jar of Vadouvan spice mix at a local spice shop a couple of years ago as my wife had come across a recipe that called for it. And then we never used it. At this point, we'll need to go back and get more if we want to make anything with it.

Eh, it's curry powder.

Yes, and I love it. However I believe it's Middle Eastern/Arabic in origins, not Indian.

The internet claims it comes from French inspiration in the southern Indian territories they colonized, but who knows...

Eh, it's curry powder.

But I tend to agree here! So many mild curries available these days. The bespoke way is obviously to blend your own spices for each use, but I don't go through that effort as I don't really cook much South Asian food. I usually keep one curry/masala blend around, at the moment it's one of the Sri Lankan roasted powders (Badapu thunapaha), but will need to get a new one soon. Maybe I'll try a Vadouvan!

Indian curries don't use curry powder. Each dish has its own spice mixture (masala) usually involving both dried spices and fresh aromatics. There is a mixture of ground dry spices called garam masala that is appears in many dishes, either as a part of the spice mixture or often sprinkled on the finished dish as a garnish. Each region of India has its own formula for garam masala. My main Indian cookbook has about ten variants of it.

-Paul W.

What Paul said. As I understand it, curry powder is a convenience food meant for Westerners. Real Indian curries are made from garam masala that is then customized for the prep at hand.

But I also don't cook many curries. I have one queasy old yellow blend, a jar of tandoori spice, and, I think, a jar of Rogan Josh spice. Oh, and a couple of Penzey's samples.

I should probably just go to the Middle Eastern shop, buy their in-house shwarma mix and forget all about curry.

[Jenise]

Paul, yes, as I understand it the curry powders were created for British colonials to take/send back home to England.

I do have some Thai Hanglay curry powder for making the Northern Thai-style Hanglay curry. I also have some Jamaican curry powder because it's one of the ingredients in a Jamaican grilling spice rub that I'm fond of. The common or garden European yellow curry powder seen most often in the US is Sun brand, which is manufactured in Chennai (aka Madras) in Tamil Nadu. It was first exported to England in 1876. I think I have a tin of it kicking around somewhere for use in European recipes that call for curry powder.

-Paul W.