Curry Roux {Masala Roux in Two Styles}

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Curry Roux Homemade from-scratch Chinese or Indian Masala style is so insanely yummy, satisfying, and extremely healthy & nutritious. Often referred to as Curry Block {Jia Li Kuai 咖喱块} in China, you can make Masala Roux in advance and freeze them. Once you have this at hand, you can whip out an iconic Curry Chicken dish in no time.

What Ingredients do you need to make homemade from scratch Curry Roux?

The very first ingredient is homemade Garam Masala, sometimes referred to as “Curry Powder” {Jia Li Fen 咖喱粉}. My homemade 14-ingredient Garam Masala includes ground spices of coriander seeds, cumin, black pepper, ginger, turmeric, nutmeg, cinnamon, chili, black mustard, fennel, star anise, bay leaves, clove, and green cardamom.

For best results, I recommend getting the organic wholesome spices and then using a spice grinder to grind them into powder. This is especially true for those spices hard to find the organic ones in the powder form.

Nevertheless, some spices such as ginger, turmeric, and nutmeg, are already available in organic powder form.

When grouping the Homemade Scratch Masala Curry Roux into dry vs. wet ingredients. For dry ingredients, other than Garam Masala powder, you will need some extra turmeric for enhanced beautiful yellow color, and some organic all-purpose flour, as a thickening agent.

For wet ingredients, we need fresh herbs of minced ginger, garlic, yellow onion, and one determining factor ingredient that differs from the Chinese vs. Indian style. For Chinese Style Curry Roux, uses apple, while Indian Style uses red tomatoes. Apple lends a fruity, semi-sweet flavor which the Asian Fusion style Curry favors.

I often use a compact food processor to mince fresh herbs. Very handy tool in my kitchen to process small quantities of food.

You use butter (unsalted organic preferred to combine the wet vs. dry ingredients together.

How to make scratch Curry Roux at home?

Step No.1 is to make homemade Garam Masala in advance for the best Curry Roux flavor

Blend the Garam Masala beforehand and store it in a small glass jar.

Step No.2 is to Prepare Ingredients

Mince garlic and ginger using a compact food processor. For apples and yellow onions, you can either chop them into small pieces using a food processor or cut them into small pieces using a knife.

Cut the butter into small cubes too.

Step No.3 is to Dry Roast the Dry Ingredients

Turn the heat to medium-high and heat a hard anodized frying pan for 2 minutes. Add the Garam Masala powder, turmeric, and all-purpose flour to the pan, use a silicon spatula and a mini whisk to mix, whisk, toss, and fold, for about 5 minutes, or till fragrant. Then remove them from the pan and set aside.

This step is essential for releasing the aroma of the spices. Do not skip this.

Step No.4 is to Pan Fry Fresh Herbs

Add a pinch of olive oil to the same frying pan. Then add minced ginger, and garlic, as well as chopped yellow onion and apple for Chinese style or tomatoes for Indian original style. Toss and flip for about 3 minutes, or till fragrant and onion becomes soft and translucent.

Last but not least, combine dry vs. wet ingredients with the help of butter

Add the chopped butter to the pan and continue to toss and fold, until butter is melted. Following that, add the previously toasted dry ingredients of Garam Masala, turmeric, and all-purpose flour.

Use the silicone spatula to continuously fold & press, until everything is nicely combined.

All done! You can package this into two portions, each portion is good for cooking three (3) pound of food. For instance, two pounds of chicken plus one pound of vegetables or other way around.