1ndian spices

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Indian spices


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INGREDIENTS USED IN INDIAN COOKERY

Garlic It is used for its strong, aromatic flavour and is astandard ingredient, along withginger in mostcurries. Each garlic can be pulped, crushed orchopped, or the cloves can

be used whole.

Ginger It is one oldest and popular spices in India. Bothfresh and dried are common. Itsrefreshing and it has a pleasant, sharpflavour. The root should be plump with a fairly

smooth skin, which is peeled off before use. Youngroot ginger is tender and mild,whereas older rootsare quite fibrous, with a more pungent flavour.Ginger is oftenblended with other spices to makecurry powder. Ginger has numerous applicationsinsweet and savoury cooking and is found inginger bread, biscuits, cakes, puddings,

pickles etc.

SonthDried ginger and its powder, used in Kashmiri foodand in a popular sweet-sourtamarind based chutneynamed sonth. It is also used in soothing teas for cold, fever,congestion of the chest and sore throat.

Chillies it's fruits appearing in different sizes, shapesand colours. Chilli is an essentialingredient of Indiancurry. Tempting colourThe universal spice of India. In curry, chilli isused as apaste, powder, broken, split or whole form. It is also used fresh. The use ofDried and roasted chilli brings out themost intense flavour of a dish. Several varietiesofchillies combined and ground to a fine powder give more complex flavour. Greenchillies is eaten raw, pickled, cooked with vegetables, dals and

khichdis.


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Aniseed Called sonf or sombu, the seed of the anise plant isused as flavouring when

splutered in hot oil, addedraw to pickles, or powdered and added to curries,used wholein a five spice mixture (panchphoran)unique to Bengal and powdered in Kashmiri

cuisine.

Cinnamon Aromatic sticks of the inner bark of a tree used incurries and pulaos. A garammasala (compoundspiced mixture) ingredient

Cloves Lavang, the dried fleshy, cylindrical floral stalk usedin garam masala and in pulaosand as garnishing forcertain dishes. Also used to pin the folded pastrycover of a stuffedsweet called Lavanga Latika

Cumin,

Black Kala Zeera, siyah Zeera used whole to flavour curries and pulaos and in garammasala.

Cumin,

White Sufaid Zeera, jeeragam, this variety is commonlyused in flavouring curries, dals,vegetables. It is roasted and powdered to flavour raita, a preparation with yoghurt towhich fresh, diced vegetables like tomatoes, cucumber have been added; and as thebase for a chutney powder.

Fenugreek Seeds Methi seeds, whole, fried or roasted and powdered,are used as'tarka' or garnishing. Used commonly inpickles across India and part of a five spiceor'panchphoran' mixture in Bengal. Though bitter, theway it is cooked in UP andRajasthan-particularly the'bedwi' that is an accompaniment to deep-friedcrisps puris-turns it into a great delicacy.


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FenugreekLeaves Called methi or vendiyam, a herb with small,aromatic green leaves, also sold

dried (kasoorimethi). Used to flavour chicken and fish and cooked as a classic

vegetable dish (subzi) with potatoes

Coriander Dhania, kothumalli, kosmalli, kothmin an aromatic herb, commonlyused in three forms, Whole seeds,powdered seeds and fresh leaves. Whole seedsare roasted and used in a variety of chutney powders and spice mixtures, especiallyin sambhar, garam masala and panchphoran. Powdered dhania is a common spicefor dals and vegetables and the leaves are ground into chutneys or used asgarnish.

Curry

Leave Kari patta, karuveppilai, meetha neem, a common flavouring for vegtables,curries, sambhar (a lentil dish), porridge, and rice in south and west India.MostIndian homes have a pot or tree and use freshly plucked leaves. Also made intowet and dry chutneys.

BayleafAlso called tej patta or pattayelai, an aromatis leaf,dried and browned inhot oil to flavour curries and pulaos (spiced fried rice). Used mainly with garam

masala, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon.

Asafoetida A strongly flavoured brown resin from Persia, also

called hing or heeng or perungayam. Available both in lumps and granules, it iswidely used across India.A common rule of Indian cookery is, if heeng is used

in a dish, garlic is not as both have strong flavours.Heeng is also believed to cureflatulence, particularl in infants, and is credited with beneficial digestiveproperties.


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Amchoor Mango powder made of sour, dried, raw mangoes,used to flavour gravies andvegetables.

Turmeric Haldi, manjal; adds a warm, mild aroma and gives a distinctive yellow colour tofoods. It is used in curry powders, not only for imparting colour and flavour to the curries, butalso because of its preservative qualities. Turmeric is used as a mild digestive and as aremedy for liver ailments.

Nuts Variety of nuts are used as garnish for sweets and pulaos (tahiris), ground intothickeners for graviesand fried in oil or ghee to flavour porridges and sweets.High proteinpea-nuts are popular in the west, in drychutney powders. Ground almonds are usedfrequently as gravy thickeners while pistachios figure in puddings like phirni and in burfis.Walnuts are used in chutneys in Kashmir, where they are commonly grown, while theubiquitous cashewnut from Tamil Nadu and Kerala is made into a popular burfi and is also afavoured garnish for pulaos and spicy rice dishes. Almonds are specially sought after as 'brain

food from a belief in their stimulative powder. The bestare 'gut-bandhi' badam with more oil(rogni) in them.

Raisins Dried grapes, munnacca, kishmish or draksha, used to speckle sweets and pulaos, inchutneys and preserves. Soaked raisins are given to infants as atonic. Raisins are usuallymade from seedless grapes.

Poppy Seeds Called khuskhus is small white seeds ground intopaste; used as a thickner forsome chutneys andgravies. It is used in certain special dishes in Bengaland Orissa. A favourite

is 'postor bada' made only of khuskhus seeds. Mustard Rai, sarson. Rai is the finer and 'sarson' the larger variety of mustard seeds.

Commonly used in picklesand curries and a popular spice in east, south andwest. The crushedyellow seeds are used in asimple pickle with green chillies, salt, termeric and oil.

Tamarind Imli, puli, the brown pulpy pod of the tropical tamarind tree. An extract oftamarind is widely used in south Indian cooking and it is the base for variousKuzhambu(gravies), chutneys, pickles and summer drinks across India. Tamarind is also used to polish

brass, silver and copper, to shine pressure cookersand pots and pans. The main component istartaric acid.


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BlackPepper Kali mirch, karu molagu, grown mostly in Kerala hasbeen exported for centuries (worldfamous Tellicherry pepper from Kerala) and was one of the major attractions for traders-turned-colonists.Peppercorns are the dried berries of the pepper plant, whose heat and pungency make ita popular ingredient in curries, raitas, pachadies and salads.Another version is white pepper whichis obtained by removing pungent sweet outer coat of the ripe fruit and then drying it to producewhite pepper.

Oregano Ajwain, homam; used in lemon pickles, batters for fried fish, puris and pakoras.Nutmeg and Mace The nutmeg fruit has a leathery skin which enclosesa hard nut. When the nutis broken open there is a roundish kernel inside. The kernel is strongly flavoured. Ground nutmegpowder is used in pulaos and meat curries and in garam masalas.The mace is the out growth calledaril which is located between the leathery skin and tye shell. It is bright red / orange in colour andhas a mild pleasant nutmeg flavor. It is used the same way as the ground kernel for the delicate

flavor. It also has medicinal properties.


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