Jaffna curry powder is the roasted spice blend of northern Sri Lanka, named after the Jaffna peninsula and its Tamil cooking. It is built on the same coriander, cumin and fennel base as the Sinhala roasted curry powder, but a large share of dried red chillies turns it red and makes it much hotter. Northern cooks use it as an all-in-one seasoning: a curry made with it usually needs no separate chilli powder, and the gravy comes out a deep reddish brown.
Recipes vary from family to family, above all in how much chilli goes in; some use more chilli than coriander by weight. The version below is hot but not extreme, and the chillies can be scaled up or down to suit you.
How to make Jaffna curry powder
- Makes about 250 g
- Prep: 10 minutes
- Cook: 20 minutes (+ 20 minutes cooling)
- Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
- 100 g coriander seeds
- 75 g dried red chillies, stalks removed
- 35 g cumin seeds
- 25 g fennel seeds
- 10 g black peppercorns (about 1 tbsp)
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 5 cm piece cinnamon, broken into pieces
- 8 green cardamom pods
- 5 cloves
- 2 sprigs curry leaves (about 20 leaves), picked off the stems
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric (optional)
Method
- Roast the coriander. Put the coriander seeds in a heavy, dry frying pan over a low heat and stir constantly for 3 to 4 minutes, until fragrant and a shade or two darker. Tip onto a large plate.
- Roast the other seeds. Roast the cumin, fennel, peppercorns and fenugreek one after another in the same way, for 1 to 2 minutes each, taking each off as soon as it smells toasty and starts to change colour. Do not let the fenugreek turn black.
- Toast the whole spices. Toast the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves together for about 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Roast the chillies. Roast the dried chillies on a low heat for about 2 minutes, turning them, until they are shiny, brittle and a brighter red. Open a window; the fumes are strong.
- Dry the curry leaves. Toss the curry leaves for about 2 minutes, until completely dry and crisp but still green.
- Cool. Spread everything out on the plate and leave for about 20 minutes, until completely cold.
- Grind. Grind in batches in a spice grinder to a fine powder. Sift, regrind anything left in the sieve, and stir in the turmeric if using.
- Store. Pack into a clean, dry, airtight jar and keep it in a cool, dark cupboard.
How is Jaffna curry powder different from other Sri Lankan curry powders?
Sri Lankan kitchens mostly use two Sinhala-style blends: a raw curry powder for vegetables and a roasted curry powder (thuna paha) for meat and fish. Both are about aroma rather than heat, and cooks add chilli powder separately. Jaffna curry powder puts the chilli into the blend itself, alongside the roasted seeds, black pepper and fenugreek, so it is red, hot and complete on its own. Roasted Sinhala blends usually also contain rice and pandan, which Jaffna recipes tend to leave out. For a side-by-side comparison of all the blends, see our guide to Sri Lankan curry powders.
What do you cook with it?
Jaffna curry powder is used for meat, chicken and seafood. Its best-known use is Jaffna crab curry, a thick, fiery crab curry from the north. It is also the usual base for northern-style mutton, chicken, prawn and fish curries. As a rough guide, 1 to 2 tablespoons season a curry for four; start with less until you know how hot your batch is, and balance it with coconut milk or tamarind as the recipe requires.
How hot is it, and how can you adjust it?
With 75 g of chillies to 100 g of coriander, this batch is noticeably hotter than any Sinhala curry powder, and a curry made with it needs no extra chilli. For a milder powder, cut the chillies to 40 g; for a very hot, deep red powder in the style of many Jaffna households, use as much chilli as coriander or more. The black pepper adds a second, slower heat, so reduce it too if you want a gentler blend. Some cooks add a little turmeric after grinding, while others leave it out entirely.
Tips for a good batch
- Roast separately. Seeds of different sizes toast at different speeds, so roast each on its own on a low heat.
- Watch the chillies. They should be brittle and bright, not blackened; scorched chillies make the powder bitter.
- Keep the leaves green. Dry curry leaves until crisp but not brown; they add a savoury aroma to the finished powder.
- Cool completely. Grinding warm spices makes the powder damp and clumpy.
- Oven method. For a large batch, some cooks roast all the whole spices together on a tray in a low oven, shaking the tray every 15 minutes, instead of using a pan.
How long does it keep?
In a clean, dry, airtight jar, away from heat and light, homemade Jaffna curry powder is at its best for about 2 months. After that it is still safe but loses aroma and colour, so make it in amounts you will use. Always take it out with a dry spoon.
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