Spice – How to make sure spice mixes don’t make the curry grainy

I've seen a lot of different curry recipes with varying levels of authenticity, but the most common ingredients I see in curries that might impart that colour are:

• Garam masala (brown)
• Chili powder (red)
• Cumin (brown)
• Paprika (red)
• Tandoori powder (usually a mix of masala, cumin, ground red pepper, fenugreek, and others - very red)
• Saffron (red)

Still, it's all kind of a moot point, because, in Indian restaurants the most common source of red is actually red food colouring. Don't kid yourself; Indian restaurants use plenty of "artificial" ingredients - they also usually use food colouring in the saffron rice, which is how they get those few vibrant red grains to mix in with the yellowish rice.

Whole spices are suggested because they retain their flavor much longer, and thus tend to have richer flavors, even if they are not fully extracted. The reason for this is that they have less surface area, so volatile flavor oils do not evaporate away as easily, and other parts of the taste do not get oxidized. They are also easier to strain out of the mixture, so they don't give an overpowering flavor or leave a gritty residue.

So, yes, you are wasting some of the flavor, but in exchange you get more of the subtle flavor compounds that ground spices tend to lose. Note also that steeping in milk will extract considerably more of the flavor from whole spices, because a lot of the smell and taste comes from chemicals that are more soluble in fat than water.

As another option, instant chai blends dissolve completely, but tend to lack the more subtle flavors of the spices.