Well the manager of the Spice merchant company I mentioned a few weeks ago has just emailed me and informed that he has just returned from a trip to India, including meeting his Kashmiri Saffron supplier, where he obtained a traditional family formula for Kashmiri Masala (bassar) and was treated to a Kashmiri Mutton Curry for lunch.  He must have been over there at the time, but didn't mention it.

He has wasted no time in formulating a marketable blend and immediately informed me of it's availability at his business centre, very close to my own home.  I guess I will have to go and investigate now after he has done this. ;D

I'll be very interested to do a side by side with the Mangal brand Indian produced packet mix I finally managed to obtain, and my own concoction.

I recently needed some Cassia Bark and my Indian Grocer was out of stock. There is a Chinese / Asian grocer not too far away and they do carry a selection of Indian grocery and spice items.  After searching for myself, I had to ask the assistant if they actually had any and he selected a small packet from the Euro Spices branded stand, labelled Cinnamon Bark 20g on the front. I questioned it but he turned the packet over and on the back it says. Ingredients: Cassia Bark Origin: Indonesia. 

The product inside the packet was indeed Cassia Bark, but a much finer or thinner bark than the chunky heavy stuff obtained in the bulk bags from the Indian grocer.  After doing a bit of research I found that Cassia Bark and Cinnamon are another set of terms that are loosely related, confused and in some cases interchanged.  Once again, there is a lot of conflicting and contradictory "information". Substitutions can be made sometimes and I even found information stating that there is a use of blended 50 /50.

Cassia Bark has also been called quite a few things including Indonesian, Bastard, Poor-man's and Chinese Cinnamon. This would explain why the Powdered Cinnamon I bought from the Asian store a while back did not smell or taste of "Cinnamon". It was powdered Cassia used in the Chinese market.  When my wife tried to use it to make Cinnamon Donuts and Cinnamon Toast for the kids it tasted disgusting.  I put the packet away in the unused spice box. I now realise what it actually is so I may have a use for it after all.

I thought your Pasanda photo looked excellent. It would have been my choice.

Phil, do you live where Cornish Pasties come from?  Why do you even bother with curries? No wonder your not in a hurry to leave. ;D  Keema Mater pasty.  Now there's an idea for the local BIR down your way.  Fusion cooking.  Oh, you said Passports.

Out here in the colonies a 400 km round trip is what some do for a daily commute.  800 km is a weekend drive without actually going anywhere.  Not for the trendy urbanites though.  We can travel 4000 km's coast to coast without the need of a passport.  Mind you it takes a week. to do it.  I'm about to do a 10oo km trip to go camping at Wee Jasper for 3 days over Easter.  Both lanes will be pretty heavy though.

Hi, Sverige. 
In a laborotory, Einstein would have been beside himself trying to calculate the exact number of Turmeric molecules actually in a Mixed Powder and the exact ratios of it to other spices. In the kitchen probably not.  This is unfortunately what I wasted some time on at the start.  When I first came to this forum the concept of Mixed Powder / Mix Powder / Curry Powder confused me for this very reason.     As I recently posted, I've come to realise that a measure of "Curry Powder" (brand unknown) in a "BIR Mixed Powder" doesn't really matter at all, because it isn't scientific at all.  But will the actual curry powder you use make a difference? Of course it will.  If you look long enough at the videos you'll eventually hear that brand doesn't matter as long as it's a good quality one.  In the UK, Rajah seems to be the default, but I've seen CT use a HOT Madras Curry Powder in one of his videos.  That doesn't matter to me now because I understand it. 

A beginner might not.

There is a Base Gravy video on YouTube (I can't remember which one, either H4ppy or JV or someone else) where he says he adds Mix Powder and then states that it's what the BIR's call Curry Powder.  "Hang on a minute! What did he just say?" To a beginner, the concept of a mixed powder, apparently also known as curry powder, containing Curry Powder, which is a mixed powder, as an ingredient, can be a bit heady. 

LC has raised a fair question on the use of Garam Masala in Mixed Powders. It isn't just a matter of if it should be used or not, but also if it is used, which one.  There is no answer because there are no rules or scientific laws.

Which Mixed / Mix / Curry powders do you prefer in Sweden?