Last Updated on May 20, 2020 by Chef Mireille
In the French Caribbean on islands like Martinique, Guadeloupe and Dominica, curry is known as Columbo. Even though Dominica is an English speaking island, France and England played ping pong with the island and it is as French as it is English. It is believed that columbo powder got introduced to this part of the Caribbean by Hindu traders from Bengal. What makes French Caribbean powder different from the curries you may get on Jamaica or Trinidad is the inclusion of rice in Columbo Curry Powder.
So when someone from one of these islands tells you they are making some Chicken Columbo, it’s actually Chicken Curry they are making.
Colombo Curry Powder
(French Caribbean Curry Powder)
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 2 minutes
Yield: 1/2 cup
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons rice
- 1 tablespoon coriander seed
- 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seed
- 1″ piece of cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cumin seed
- 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 allspice berry
- 1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
- 3 blades of mace
- 3 green cardamom pods
- 2 dried red chiles
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
In a dry skillet, roast rice until golden brown. Remove to a coffee/spice grinder.
Add to the skillet all spices except the turmeric and ginger. Roast for a few minutes until they start to change color and turn fragrant. Leave to cool for a few minutes.
Transfer to the coffee/spice grinder. Grind well to a fine powder.
Add turmeric and ginger and mix to combine and whirr the machine again.
Use to make Caribbean style curries.
So you know how to make a Caribbean style curry with this powder, check my Caribbean Curry Chicken recipe here. Although the recipe isn’t specific to the French Caribbean, the methodology is the same throughout the Caribbean.
Columbo Curry Powder
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons rice
- 1 tablespoon coriander seed
- 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seed
- 1 " piece of cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 allspice berry
- 1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
- 3 blades of mace
- 3 green cardamom pods
- 2 dried red chiles
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- In a dry skillet, roast rice until golden brown. Remove to a coffee/spice grinder.
- Add to the skillet all spices except the turmeric and ginger. Roast for a few minutes until they start to change color and turn fragrant. Leave to cool for a few minutes.
- Transfer to the coffee/spice grinder. Grind well to a fine powder.
- Add turmeric and ginger and mix to combine and whirr the machine again.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 56
[inlinkz_linkup id=533216 mode=1]
Never used rice in spice powder but it sure sounds flavorful.
Lot of curry powders add rice to their ingredients.. I remember making the Lankan curry powder which also used rice..but this powder also has many other flavorful ingredients..i like mace also in the spice powder,aromatic !
As Vaishali mentioned, reading rice as one of the ingredients firs thing that came to mind was Sri Lankan curry powder. When I saw Colombo I though it was the place and not curry. Now I know what chicken colombo is. Nice flavorful columbo powder.
I have seen my Mom adding rice to the sambar powder sometimes..guess it adds body to the sambar when added..good one..and nice reading about the intro of this curry powder!
What a perfect bowl of curry powder. great share
Chicken columbo is quite a popular dish here, now i know how to make the curry powder for making this famous dish.
Definitely an aromatic and flavorful powder.
Wow, adding rice to a curry powder is very interesting. It looks very flavorful.
different right? But toasted rice adds a nice smoky taste.
The first thought naturally went towards Sri Lanka. 🙂 That is one flavorful spice mix and to my Indian mind is reminding garam masaa.
A flavorful and useful curry powder.