Culinary jottings

of mustard-seed ... , , . rai. i lb. of dried chillies ... , , sooha mirrch. 1 lb. of black pepper corns. , , hala mirrch. Do not be alarmed at the quantity, remembering my previous statement that curry-powder improves by keeping, if carefully secured. The amount when finally mixed will fill about half a dozen bottles of the size in which tart fruits are imported. Accordingly, if disinclined to lay in so large a stock at a time, the obvious alternative of sharing some of it with a friend can easily be adopted. The lady who gave me the receipt accompanied her kind action with a little good advice : — " Weigh everything," said she, " most carefully, and even after the various ingredients have been cleaned, weigh them again, and also weigh the husks, &c., that have been removed. In this way alone will you be able to guard against the disappearance of half an ounce of this, or an ounce of that, — petty pilferings that take from the curry-powder that which it cannot get again, and leave it poor indeed." Inasmuch, therefore, as short weight can be more easily detected in fairly large than in small quantities, an additional reason presents itself for making up the entire recipe. The coriander-seed and fenugreek must each be parched very carefully, i.e., roasted like coffee berries, before being pounded, and the other ingredients should be cleaned and dried, each separately, and, when pounded, should be well sifted. In order to preserve the proportions after the seeds have been powdered and sifted, it is necessary to obtain much larger quantities of the various ingredients in the first instance. Coriander-seed, for example, is very oily and only a part of it will pass through the sieve ; twenty-four ounces of the seed will not yield more than eight ounces of powder : eight ounces of turmeric root will give four of powder : cummin-seed loses about one-third of its original weight in the process of sifting, and dried chilli skin about half. Weights having been tested, then the whole of the powders should be mixed, a quarter of a bottle of salt being sprinkled in by degrees during the process. The bottles, thoroughly cleansed and dried in the sun, may now be filled and corked tightly down, the tops being securely waxed over. Some recommend that, when the powder has been mixed, it should be browned in melted butter over the fire, then dried in the sun, and powdered again, in order to tone down the strong flavour of the cummin-seed. This is a stoclc powder, the flavour of which can be varied by the use of certain spices, and green leaves, garlic, onions, green ginger, almond, cocoanut, &c., at the time of cooking the curry. The spices, which should be used according to taste and discretion, are these : — cloves (laoong), mace (jaivatri), cinnamon (kulmi darehini) , initm.eg (jaephal), cardamoms {eelachij, and allspice (seetul chini gack), A salt-spoonful of one, or at most of two, of these aromatic powders blended, will suffice for a . large curry. Dr. Kitchener's precept, viz., that the mixing of several spices is a blunder, should never be forgotten.