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Sri Lankan Meat Curry Powder

The Quirky Foodster Team

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About 1 cup
Servings

Ingredients

  • Similar to Sri Lankan roasted curry powder but with a heavier proportion of cinnamon, clove and black pepper, and typically a more thorough roast to stand up to red meat's richness

Method

  1. Dry-roast each spice group separately (chiles and curry/pandan leaves first, as they roast fastest, then the seed spices) until deeply dark brown — significantly darker than most South Asian curry powders — then cool and grind. As for Sri Lankan roasted curry powder, deep-roasted.
  2. THE defining step of this blend — Sri Lankan curry powder is roasted to a notably darker, almost black-brown stage than Indian curry powders, giving it a distinctive smoky-bitter depth.

Origin: Sri Lanka, a heavier variant of the roasted curry powder family specifically formulated for red meat.

Use: Added during the cooking of beef, mutton, and pork curries specifically.

Classic Dishes: Sri Lankan beef curry; mutton curry.

Storage: Keeps 3-4 months sealed and dark.

Variations: A meat-specific formulation within the broader roasted curry powder family rather than a fully distinct blend.

Substitutions: A dark-toasted version of standard Indian curry powder, toasted further at home, approximates the effect. Sri Lankan roasted curry powder as a direct substitute.