Curry blends for Thai curry, butter chicken, biryani and more

One curry blend for one dish

Supermarket curry powder is a single mix for everything. The blends here are made for one dish or one region. Thai Red Curry is for Thai red curry. Indian Butter Bliss is for butter chicken. That makes choosing simple: you know what you are cooking, so you pick the blend that goes with it. Chloë and Dax mix each curry in small batches in Brussels.

Which curry blend to choose

Thai curry

Thai Red Curry balances hot, sweet and sour, and goes into a coconut milk curry as well as a marinade. There is a quick Thai red curry built on this blend. Chiang Mai Curry comes from northern Thailand and takes its cue from khao soi, the curry noodle soup. It is aromatic with a gentle heat. The khao soi recipe shows what to do with it.

Indian dishes

Indian Butter Bliss is creamy and rounded with a gentle heat, and made for butter chicken. The butter chicken recipe is on the site. Royal Biryani Blend is for rice dishes with layers of flavour, and the chicken biryani recipe uses it.

Chinese five spice and chai

Fabulous Five Spice is a Chinese five spice blend, sweet, savoury and warm. It works in meat and vegetable dishes and in desserts. Chai of the Tiger is the odd one out here: not a curry, but a spiced tea blend with black tea, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and black pepper. It is for the cup, with milk or a plant-based milk.

What you are cooking	Blend
Thai red curry with coconut milk	Thai Red Curry
Khao soi, curry noodle soup	Chiang Mai Curry
Butter chicken	Indian Butter Bliss
Biryani and rice dishes	Royal Biryani Blend
Chinese dishes, meat, desserts	Fabulous Five Spice
Chai latte	Chai of the Tiger

How to cook with a curry blend

Fry the blend briefly in oil or butter before you pour in any liquid, say coconut milk or tomato. Then let the sauce simmer gently and taste. For something milder, add more coconut milk or cream. For more heat, add chilli flakes: with Thai curry, Bird's Eye or cayenne work well. Check the ingredients on the product page before you add salt.

Torn between Thai and Indian? If you want a fresh, hot sauce with coconut milk, go Thai. If you want something creamy and rounded for rice, go Indian. If you want noodle soup, Chiang Mai. It is a preference, not a rule, and you can happily cook two in the same week.

The guide to curry blends explained, six types by region and heat sets the regions side by side.

How much time you have

For a weeknight there is the Thai red curry in twenty-five minutes and the butter chicken in forty-five, as the recipes on the site describe them. The blends are spices, not a meal kit: you can use them with chicken, fish, vegetables or pulses. Pick the curry you fancy and let the protein follow.

A set to give or to start with

The Asian curry set holds four blends: Thai Red Curry, Chiang Mai Curry, Royal Biryani and Indian Butter Bliss. It makes a handy present for someone who likes to cook, or a way to find out which curry you make most often.

Storing a curry blend

Keep the jar dry, dark and tightly closed. Curry blends hold many volatile oils, so they lose their smell sooner once opened.

A tip from Chloë and Dax

Make a double batch of sauce and freeze half. A curry often tastes deeper on the second day.