Topic: Mix powder why ?

[noble ox]

Over the years I have noticed mix powder taking over from adding spices  individually as needed for each
curry which make them as the original recipe dictates
In all my currys its the adding as requested by recipes that work better

When all currys have the same mix of spices blandness evolves.  A bit of a backward step IMO
It seems to of only occurred in the last 20 years or so
I am asking so as I and all can learn a little more

[Peripatetic Phil]

Why ?  Oddly enough, for exactly the same reasons as recycling previously recycled dross :  laziness and ignorance.  Why bother to learn about exactly what each spice can add to a dish when you can just copy whatever the previous chef used to put in his mix powder, leave out a few of the more expensive or hard-to-source ingredients, then sell the resulting "curry" for more than he did to non-discerning punters who have already nuked their taste bugs with six pints of King Cobra.

Also (to be fair to the odd chef who does care about quality, and as later contributors have pointed out), it is far easier to get an accurate blend by weight when you are measuring in spoonsful than when you are measuring in milligrammes in the context of a commercial kitchen.

** Phil.

[Onions]

Surely it's because they make X-amount of curries a night and so save time. Easier to do in bulk. LIke garlic paste (e.g.). Strictly, us at home don't have that excuse.

[fried]

I was watching a Indian chef talking about his hatred for 'Madras' curry powder, agueing that it made all dishes taste the same, this was an indian chef in India cooking traditional style recipes. He prefered to add his own ground spices in the proportions he decided. I usually cook like this, blending a small quantity of spices when making larger quantities.

However, cooking small BIR style portions, it's difficult to measure out smaller quantities of lesser used spices. I believe this is given as one of the reason why it's accepted practice that 'mix' powders be made of a high percentage of curry powder. Pretty convenient in a lot of takeaways too.

[noble ox]

It seems to me that mix powder is curry powder with additions making another curry powder
I guess it works in Birs where the chef was the delivery driver (as the chef was drunk) I discovered on 1 occasion.
Members here in their recipes are mostly using mix powders which arrests our learning of how different spices go together to make different dishes

[littlechilie]

Mix powder because it's fast BIR! But there would be nothing to stop anyone making many different mix powders, use as u wish to flavour different dishes if you prefer this way of cooking.
The great thing about cooking is it's up to you to decide the outcome.   

[fried]

Members here in their recipes are mostly using mix powders which arrests our learning of how different spices go together to make different dishes

How would you go about getting a Tsp of 'mix' powder using individual spices?

[noble ox]

LC
I don't buy the speed theory as I have seen good chefs use 7 spices quicker than most could get a lid of the mix spice container

[noble ox]

Fried
Do you really think that a Bir chef only uses a teaspoon of spice ?

[Onions]

Do you think they cook individual portions?