The Spice That Will Give Your Egg Salad Sandwich A Flavorful Kick

You can't beat an egg salad sandwich on a hot day. It's often flavored with easy add-ins such as dill, chives, paprika, pickle relish, olives, and horseradish, or you can even fold in crispy bacon bits. But while these are all delicious options, there's one spice in particular that will not only add that extra oomph to your next batch of egg salad but will also dye it a slightly more vibrant hue to give it the ultimate presentation — yellow curry powder.

Native to Indian cuisines, yellow curry powder typically consists of a blend of bold and warm spices, including turmeric, cumin, ginger, black pepper, cinnamon, garlic, coriander, cardamom, fenugreek, anise, and mustard seed. This deeply aromatic mixture will play well against the creamy mayo base in egg salad. However, it doesn't contain any chili peppers, so while it will add lots of bright flavor as well as a pop of color to your egg salad, it won't add a layer of heat.

While curry powder has some health benefits (especially thanks to the addition of superfood turmeric) and is full of flavor, it can be quite strong tasting. Adding in just enough to do the job without overpowering your egg salad is crucial. That being said, a pinch is all it takes per serving. If we're getting technical, a pinch is equivalent to one-sixteenth of a teaspoon. 

If you don't have yellow curry powder but have red curry powder or even green, just know that these two spices have a much different taste to them compared to the yellow version. Red curry powder uses red chilies and green curry powder uses green chilies, therefore these variations are a bit on the spicier side. If spicy is up your alley, by all means, substitute them in. However, many enjoy the sweet aspect that yellow curry powder provides. If you have the necessary spices on hand to make yellow curry powder from scratch, that can work just as well.