curry powder recipe mix

Tailor curry powder to your own tastes and preferences by blending your own at home!

Instead of buying curry powder, Italian seasoning, za’atar, taco mix, etc., I inspired to start putting together my own blends. This seems like a good way to keep the spices moving through the cabinet versus having so many variations of basically the same spices, just melded different ways.

First up was curry powder. I am completely out. And, quite a few of the recipes I planned for the fresh veggies I just bought needed curry!

Curry Powder Recipe Mix

Prep time: 10 minutes

Total time: 0 minutes

Makes: 1 cup

Equipment: bowl, spatular or whisk, grinder if using whole seeds for any of the ingredients, funnel, mason jar with lid

Ingredients:

6 tbsp ground turmeric

4 tbsp ground cumin

4 tbsp ground coriander

4 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp dry ground mustard

2 tsp ground fenugreek

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp ground cardamon

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions:

1) Dump all the ingredients in a bowl.

2) Use a whisk or spatula to blend together well.

3) Pour into a mason jar using a funel.

4) Store in a dark place, such as a cabinet.

I’m wanting to incorporate fennel into my cooking, both fresh whole fennel and fennel seed. So, I was hoping to use it in my curry powder. But, I don’t have any fennel seed on hand, as of yet. Next time, that will be a fun variation to make for the curry powder blend!

Don't forget to pin this post if you want to remember the recipe for when you run out of curry powder and want to try your hand at making your own mix!

tahini yogurt chicken salad lettuce wraps

This is hands down the best chicken salad I've ever had.

The turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, and dijon are such a wonderful, unique flavor combo. And, with the yogurt and tahini base, I feel a little more healthy than if I was eating chicken slathered in mayo. It takes a it longer than expected to chop and combine all the different components. But, the varying textures and ratio of flavor are well worth the effort!

 

I highly recommend wrapping the chicken salad in the leaves of buttercrunch lettuce. It imparts such a satisfying crunch (quite literally) it's buttercrunch lettuce ;) If you wanted to get more greens in your diet, you could easily cut back the amount of chicken salad on each lettuce leaf by about 1/4 of what I have shown in the photos and still have more than enough balance of chicken salad to lettuce.

You also could add a third can of chicken (using the same amount of dressing) and the chicken would have more than enough seasoning.

Tahini Yogurt Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps

Prep time: 15 minutes

Total time: 15 minutes

Serves: 2

Equipment: bowl, measuring spoons, measuring cups, medium spatula

Ingredients:

2 cans chicken in water (5 oz each)

1/2 cup whole milk yogurt

1 tbsp tahini

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup dried currants (or whatever dried berries you have on hand)

1/3 cup diced green onion

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/3 cup chopped pecans (sub chopped walnuts, if desired)

1 head buttercrunch lettuce

Instructions:

1) In a bowl, mix together yogurt, tahini, mustard, turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, and salt.

2) Fold in the remaining ingredients.

3) Dollop onto individual lettuce leaves for serving.

4) Enjoy!

 

This recipe, as written and the amount of chicken salad I have on each lettuce cup in the photos, is enough for two lunches for just me if it is all I am eating (no sides, other than maybe an orange). When I have a side (still using the amount of chicken salad shown on each lettuce leaf), this easily makes food savings. However, if you put less chicken salad on each lettuce cup and/or added another can of chicken, this could stretch much further - if you're wanting to make appetizers, for example.

I used one head of buttercrunch lettuce to provide enough leaves for the amount of chicken salad shown on each in the photos. So, buy an additional head (or heads) of lettuce as needed if you plan on placing less chicken salad on each leaf.

Side note - did you know you can plant the root of your buttercrunch lettuce in dirt and it will regrow a few times into a new head of lettuce?? Yes, even the lettuce you buy in a package from the store. It still grows again and again! Quite amazing. See the new green growth poking out in just the weeks time since I used up this lettuce and planted it?

Don't forget to pin this post if you want to remember the recipe for the next time you need a simple, yet delicious, meal!

author, Andy Weir

I started 2026 by reading books with a vengeance. I think what was really got me back in the swing of things was putting a book down right away when I wasn't immediately drawn in. Sometimes, this was after reading a few chapters. Other times, it was only after a few paragraphs. If I wasn't feeling it in that moment, I moved on and opened a different book. There are endless books available so why read anything other than ones where you can't wait to get to the next page??

My favorite books so far are both by Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary and Artemis. If you've seen the movie, The Martian, that's by this author as well! And, the Project Hail Mary movie, starring Ryan Gosling, is in theaters now. 

Project Hail Mary is for sure the best of his books. So imaginative and detailed. I also thoroughly enjoyed Artemis, but didn't get as sucked into the characters as deeply. The storyline would be better for young adults, if it weren't for some of the themes and language. I started The Martian, but put it down after a few chapters. Reading the story through the POV of the main characters thoughts was a little too stressful for me, especially since he had to work through so many problems as part of the storyline. I felt like his stresses became my stresses and I couldn't get lost in the story. I have heard Andy's got another book in the works and I'm so looking forward to it!

Footnote - you will love Andy Weir if you devoured the 3 Body Problem series (the books!, not the Netflix series, which was the worst case of book adaptation I've ever experienced!) Both Andy Weir and Liu Cixin, the author of 3 Body Problem, have the same detailed theories, rabbit holes, and storylines of space and physics. Contemplating string theory (multiple dimensions and times) is not for the faint of heart. But, if you are someone who can stretch your mind and consider things other than face value, these are two great authors for you! If you want to see a better adaptation of 3 Body Problem, search on Youtube for the Tencent Three Body English, which is a thirty (yes thirty!) episode series of the 3 Body Problem books created by Tencent, a Chinese company, right around the same time as the Netflix series came out.