Name your spices

Gardener972

Name all the spices you use when cooking Indian food. I want to make sure I have everything.

SitaParityaga

I've found for me its better to just buy small amounts as you need them...although of course, there are some that are used more consistently than others, ie: tumeric.

I found my spice cabinet overflowing at one point, with all the different things, most of which ended up getting stale and not so good to use.

MrsC_772

Like SitaParityaga, I have an overflowing spice cupboard, with jars bought for a particular recipe, but which end up going stale. I wouldn't advise stocking up on the obscure stuff on a just-in-case basis.

Sufficiently essential for me to justify buying the big jars from the Asian foods aisle at the supermarket (as opposed to the same-price but much smaller Schwartz jars) are:
- ground and whole cumin (jeera) - no dish has ever been ruined by too much cumin, in my view - also handy for giving flavour to non-Indian veggie soups;
- ground coriander - a lot of recipes call for this in larger quantities than other spices
- garam masala (though purists would say make your own).

I also get through quite a lot of cinnamon sticks, turmeric and black peppercorns.

What else you need will depend on whether you're cooking food from a particular region.

I was told the North Indian staple spices are cumin, coriander, turmeric and some form of chili powder (I bought some kashmiri mirch in Delhi - quite mild, with a paprika-like flavour as well as a little heat - yum). I tend to use a combination of 2 of these, plus garam masala, in my random dals.

I think in the South they use quite a lot of black mustard seeds.

Just about every dish in the Kashmiri cookbook I bought requires asafoetida and black cardamoms.

Cardamom

Mrs C has some good tips - I think it definitely depends on what you want to make or what region of dishes you usually make. Also, buy small amounts or like Mrs C says - they'll lose their freshness The key is to get the basics for most dishes you cook and then you're pretty much set for making a lot of recipes.

This is what's in my masala dabba that I use in most recipes (especially for the tadka):

cumin seed
black mustard seed
turmeric
methi (fenugreek)
dried red chili peppers
coriander seed
dried curry leaves
tightly sealed jar of hing

Other "essentials" for my kitchen that I run out of quickly:

Amchoor
Cumin powder
Coriander powder
chili powder
Kalonji (for my Panch phoron yum yum!!!)

And last...but CERTAINLY not least....Cardamom (green, black, whole & powdered)

C

PS: two things I bought too much of for specific recipes which I need to use, but don't know what to use them in: Ajwain seeds & dried kokum phool. Any suggestions, IMers?

xiaojie

^^^^^^^^

whats Panch Poron..?

Selkie

In addition to the spices mentioned above, I usually have some fresh ginger in my kitchen, and a jar of tamarind paste (not strictly a spice I know - or is it? )

xiaojie

Hi,

Some uses of ajwain(bishop's weed)..

http://www.indiacurrents.com/news/vi...a784d99b5ca 2

My mom also uses ajwain in making the dough for Puris.
It also reduces flatulence caused by beans when it is cooked with beans.

xiaojie

Its good you get Tamarind Paste..I got a big packet of it with me from India..I need it for a whole lot of South Indian recipes.

Cardamom

xiaojie - thanks for the link I will give it a look! I usually just make it in a tea for the exact reason you mentioned

Panch Phoron is a mix of 5 spices:
Cumin seed
Fennel seed
Nigella (aka Kalonji)
mustard seed
fenugreek

It's mostly used in the recipes in Bengali cuisine. It's part of one of my favorite comfort foods - sweet and sour dal. Yum yum! It's also good just used in stir frying vegetables - really gives flavor with no effort!

Thanks again!
-C

xiaojie

amazing aint it..?
the wide variety of cuisine that we have in India..I am a south Indian but haven't tried authentic Bengali cuisine as yet, except the Bengali sweets ofcourse....!

How do you make this daal..??

global_yatri

our "tadaka" box has red chillies (dried) and then
1. black/brown mustard seeds
2. jeera (cumin)
3. chana dal
4. turmeric
5. red chilly powder
6. hmm... i have to check - can't remember but there's six little containers!

and the most common spices used are probably chana masala (mdh?) and black pepper - fresh ground.

has anyone used fennel (fresh) with indian dishes? our farmers' market here has such great smelling and good looking fennel - but i'm not sure what to do with them!

Cardamom

Here's the recipe that was passed to me from a friend...
1 2/3 cup chana dal (soaked overnight)

dash of turmeric
2 teaspoons amchoor
2-3 tablespoons sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)
3 tablespoons ghee
2 tablespoons of the panch phoron mix
4-8 dried red chilis (depending on how much heat you want)
2 bay leaves
a handful of raisins
salt to taste

cook the lentils in 3 cups of water until they're mushy - add water as needed to get a soupy consistency

stir in the turmeric, sugar, salt

for the tadka -
add the ghee, add the panch phoron
when it starts crackling, add the bay leaves, chilis, amchoor and raisins

pour this on the dal and bring to a boil, stirring well.
Serve with rice or a fried bread and proceed to drool

tamarind or lemon works well in place of the amchoor I'm told, but I haven't tried this yet.

zoltan

Here's my general store of spices:
- asofetida powder
- cumin (whole & powdered)
- cinammon sticks
- turmeric
- bay leaves
- star anise
- mustard seed (black)
- coriander powder
- cardamon seed (whole & powdered)
- fenugreek seed
- black salt
- garam masala
(and that's just the ones off the top of my head - because they're regularly used).

Cheers
Zoltan

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Gardener972

Thanks everyone! Looks like I'm doing alright because I have everything you've mentioned except the panch phoron and I use all of them except the fenugreek. There's something about that spice that makes me cringe and that's prob. why I don't like the prepared curry powders as it has quite a bit of fenugreek in it. I'm growing a curry plant and love the taste of the fresh leaves! I also really like the taste of nigella (kalonji) and ajwain but need more suggestions on what to use these in. Would like your input please!

xiaojie

Guess what, fenugreek is very effective in combating PMS.