Garam Masala vs Curry Powder: Indian Spice Blends Compared

Garam masala vs curry powder comes down to the job each does: both are ground spice blends, but garam masala is an aromatic, warming finishing blend stirred in near the end of cooking, while curry powder is an all-in-one base, usually built on turmeric, that you fry with the onions at the start. Below, we compare them with the tandoori, tikka and biryani masalas in our spices and herbs range: what each is for, when to add it, how hot it is, plus salt and allergen notes.

Garam masala vs curry powder: what is the difference?

• What’s in it: garam masala, Hindi and Urdu for “hot spices”, is a blend of warm, aromatic spices that varies by region and household. Most curry powders are built on turmeric, which gives curries their yellow colour, with spices such as coriander, cumin, fenugreek and chilli.
• When to add it: garam masala in the last few minutes of cooking, so its aroma stays fresh; curry powder fried with the onion for a minute before the other ingredients go in. You can use both in one curry.
• How much: 1–2 teaspoons of garam masala in a curry, but around 1–2 tablespoons of curry powder for a curry for four.
• Heat: despite its name, garam masala is aromatic and warming rather than chilli-hot. Curry powder comes mild or hot.

Curry powder has British roots. Britannica says it “was adapted by British settlers in India”, and that with it British cooks could re-create the flavour of Indian cuisine; in traditional Indian cookery, spice mixtures are called masala and are prepared at home. Garam masala is one of them. For the spices in it and a homemade blend, see our guide to what garam masala is.

Indian spice blends compared

All notes are from our product pages.

On Sara packs, allergens are shown in bold in the ingredients. Greenfields, a London-based herbs and spices brand, says some of its blends are made in a facility that also handles sesame, mustard and celery. Always check the label if you are cooking for someone with an allergy.

How to use curry powder

For a curry for four, our curry powder pages suggest frying an onion, adding 1–2 tablespoons for a minute, then adding meat or vegetables, tomatoes and stock and simmering. Choose mild for family curries (use a little less for very young palates) or hot for a fiery one. They also suggest stirring 1 teaspoon of mild into mayonnaise with mango chutney for coronation chicken, whisking hot into a roux or gravy for chip-shop-style curry sauce, and tossing potatoes with oil and 1 teaspoon before roasting.

Tandoori vs tikka masala: what is the difference?

Tandoori describes the cooking method and tikka the cut. A tandoor is “a cylindrical clay oven in which food is cooked over charcoal” and tandoori means “cooked in a tandoor”, says Merriam-Webster; meats cooked in it are marinated in yoghurt and spices, Britannica notes: the job tandoori masala does. Tikka comes from the Hindi and Urdu for a small piece of meat, so chicken tikka is marinated boneless pieces. The two overlap: Britannica describes chicken tikka masala as marinated boneless chicken pieces traditionally cooked in a tandoor, served in a subtly spiced tomato-cream sauce.

Our two Greenfields blends share coriander, paprika, garlic, chilli, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and fennel. The tandoori masala adds fenugreek, aniseed and a touch of lemon, with salt and a little sugar, and contains celery; the tikka masala spice adds turmeric, black pepper, star anise, onion, bay leaves, nutmeg and cardamom, with salt.

Tandoori marinade

Our tandoori pages suggest mixing 2 tablespoons of tandoori masala with 150g natural yoghurt, the juice of half a lemon and a crushed garlic clove. Coat 500g chicken, marinate it for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight, then grill, roast at 220°C or barbecue. The same marinade suits paneer and vegetable skewers; fish and prawns need only 20–30 minutes, then quick cooking over a high heat.

Chicken tikka and tikka masala sauce

Mix 2 tablespoons of the tikka blend with yoghurt, lemon juice and garlic, marinate chicken pieces for 2 hours, then grill or roast. For the sauce, fry onion, garlic and ginger, add 1–2 tablespoons of the spice, then tomatoes and a splash of cream, and simmer with the cooked chicken tikka.

Whichever blend you use, marinate raw chicken in a secure, leak-proof container at the bottom of the fridge, and don’t wash it: the Food Standards Agency warns that washing raw chicken can spread campylobacter by splashing. Before serving, check that the meat is steaming hot all the way through, none of the meat is pink when you cut into the thickest part and any juices run clear.

Biryani masala

Biryani masala is a ready-mixed blend for biryani, the layered rice dish. Our Greenfields and Sara pages suggest marinating 500g chicken in yoghurt with 2 tablespoons for an hour; Abido’s suggests frying 1 tablespoon with the onion, garlic and ginger first. Greenfields’ contains salt, so taste before adding more, while Abido’s six-spice blend has none, so season separately and add chilli to taste. Our chicken biryani recipe compares all three, with the full method.

Single spices and tadka (tempering)

A tadka (tarka, or tempering) is whole spices, sometimes with dried chillies, cooked briefly in hot oil or ghee, either at the start of cooking or at the end, poured over a dal just before serving. Mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and dried red chillies are classic choices.

• Curry leaves: fragrant, earthy and slightly citrus, and not the same as curry powder: they come from the curry tree. Fry 8–10 dried leaves with mustard seeds and a dried chilli in hot oil, then pour over dal.
• Fenugreek seeds (methi): naturally bitter, so use a little. Fry ½ teaspoon in hot oil until a shade darker, not burnt, then add to dal or curry.
• Chilli powder: for more heat, add ½–1 teaspoon with the other spices, then more to taste, and wash your hands afterwards.

Keep the heat moderate: food writer Monica Bhide warns that a burned tadka cannot be saved. Our guide to types of lentils includes a simple tarka dal.

How to store spice blends

• Cool, dry and dark: keep packs away from direct sunlight and reseal them, or decant into an airtight jar, after opening. Avoid the shelf above the hob: US spice maker McCormick calls repeated heat “an enemy of spice longevity”.
• How long they last: McCormick, which defines shelf life as how long a spice stays at its most aromatic, gives a rough guide of 1–3 years for most seasoning blends, 2–4 for ground spices and 3–4 for whole ones. Go by the date on your pack.
• Big packs: our Sara blends come in 75g to 5kg packs; fill a small jar for everyday use and keep the rest sealed.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use garam masala instead of curry powder?

Not as a straight swap: curry powder is a base used by the tablespoon at the start, garam masala a finishing blend used by the teaspoon. With no curry powder, fry 1–2 teaspoons each of ground cumin and coriander, ½–1 teaspoon of turmeric, and chilli powder to taste with the onions, then add garam masala near the end.

Is tandoori masala the same as garam masala?

No. Tandoori masala is a bold marinade blend, mixed with yoghurt and lemon before grilling, roasting or barbecuing; Greenfields’ includes chilli, paprika and garlic, with salt and a little sugar. Garam masala is a warming, aromatic finishing blend stirred in near the end of cooking; Greenfields’ is just coriander, cinnamon, ginger and cloves, with no salt or chilli.

Is chicken tikka masala Indian or British?

Its origins are debated, says Britannica. One story credits a chef in Glasgow with adding a mild tomato-cream sauce to his chicken tikka in the 1970s to please a customer, but Britannica says it more likely derived from butter chicken, a popular dish in northern India. In 2001 the then Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, hailed it as a symbol of modern multicultural Britain.

Which Indian spice blends are not hot?

Garam masala is aromatic and warming rather than chilli-hot, and Greenfields’ contains no chilli. Abido Biryani Spices is aromatic rather than hot, Greenfields Biryani Masala gives a soft, aromatic heat rather than a strong burn, and Mild Curry Powder has gentle warmth (use a little less for very young palates). Add chilli to taste.

Do spice blends go out of date?

They usually fade rather than go off: McCormick says spices do not expire the way milk does. Packs carry a best before date, which GOV.UK’s food labelling guidance says relates to quality, not safety: after it, food is usually safe to eat but may not be of the same quality. Poor storage can reduce quality before that date.