There is no such thing as one generic curry. White people are funny.

Garam masala does not have turmeric. You might try different brands to see if there is one you like better (for instance, Penzeys is way too heavy on the clove, blech). We buy ours at the international grocery or make our own (husband is Indian).

Try the recipe for "dahi wali chicken curry" from the blog Hooked on Heat. It's great.

i think i dislike garam masala because it's more cinnamony to me. but it's true even "curry" can mean a thousand different kinds of blends of spices that vary according to brand and contents.

I used the curry powder and the garam masala sold at Whole Foods. They have completely different flavor profiles.

Non-Indian here who has made curries from scratch for years. First of all, curry powder mixes sold in the grocery store usually taste very different from GM, a mixture of spices. The only way to find the spice you are averse to is get a package of GM that lists the ingredients and then taste each spice separately. I love coriander, cumin, turmeric, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and many other spices. No idea which turn people off.

A few years ago, I spent a few weeks in India, and though I loved Indian food at first, I pretty quickly hit a "wall" and have had an aversion to it ever since. But the other day I got a craving for chicken curry, so I'm making it tonight. I *think* I like curry, but the spice mixture I do not like is garam masala. If they're pretty much the same thing, then I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure there is one specific spice in garam masala that just does sit right on my palate and I have a suspicion in might be the coriander. Can any Indian cooks clear this up for me? I picked up a curry powder but it does not say if it includes coriander, so I have no idea if it will turn me off the way garam masala does. If you're familiar with these spices, IS it the coriander that gives people problems usually, or is it one of the other spices? Maybe the turmeric?