It's an unfortunate mix up - curry leaves and curry powder/paste are different things.

Curry leaves are just the aromatic leaves of a bush like plant used primarily in south Indian cooking much like basil or makrut lime leaves.

Curry pastes and powders are mixtures of spices: tumeric, cumin, coriander, fennel, mustard seeds, asafoetida, black pepper, cloves etc. Every region and family has their own blend of spices.

Ok thanks. So my understanding of curries was right just didn't also know that curry leaves are also another thing.

Curry leaves are usually used to make a "tadka" which is oil, mustard seed and other dried spices and curry leaves are heated up and then poured over a cooked dish like dal or sambar where it briefly sizzles and adds some flavor and aroma. You will also see it in some Indian fried snack packages.

https://www.seriouseats.com/what-is-tadka-tarka-chaunk-chhon...

> It's an unfortunate mix up - curry leaves and curry powder/paste are different things.

Reminds me of buying "chili powder" from an Asian grocery and getting powdered chiles instead. The resulting pot of chili was very bland and way too hot at the same time.

I'm from the UK and I'm curious what you would expect chilli powder to be?

Over here it's always just chillis.

In the US, it's a spice mix for cooking chili. (AKA "chili con carne," a popular meaty, spicy stew.) Chili powder has a bit of cayenne but mostly cumin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, etc.

I can imagine it being different outside the US, but this store was in Seattle so you can see my confusion.

I made the opposite mistake when I first moved to the US (: the bottle of chili powder sat in my pantry for years, being used for the very occasional pot of chili.

Chef Keith Sarasin has a wonderful video on the origins of the word "Curry". Do give it a watch in your free time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8AyelJo4Fo