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Originally Posted by phatch  Any particular reason you give curry powder in parentheses for garam masala? They're not particularly similar in my view. |
As I understand them, neither term has any actual, defined meaning in terms of particular ingredients, so it's hard to say. "Garam masala" translates simply as "hot spice blend," and "curry powder," is an Anglo-Indian thing which means whatever you want it to. A commercial "Madras" curry powder such as Sun brand (available in regular supermarkets) will work fine; so will a "garam masala" already packed by or for an Indian market -- or for that matter, Penzeys, Spice Island, or whatever.
As always, when giving directions teaching Indian food, when I'm not too sure about the level for spice tolerance, I try to keep things reasonably simple and neither too spicy nor to difficult to shop for. I suppose I could have added "fenugreek" or even crumbled kharee leaves, but it seemed to me that would be raising the bar too high for a first foray into making Indian food at home -- even though a masala without methi is no masala at all (to me).
BDL