Spices

Hey fellow adventurers! A lot of things come to mind when I think about India and spices are definitely one of them. India produces over 70% of the world’s spices. They love their spices! And I can’t blame them. I love using spices to make up for my terrible cooking skills. Now, I’m not saying Indians do this (Indian is my favorite food), but you can. When I’m talking about spices, I don’t just mean spicy spices but everything. I can’t handle anything spicy, personally. Unfortunately, I can’t talk about every spice that comes from India but I’ll cover the most popular.

Corianders Seeds (Dhania) and Powder

Corianders is sweet and tangy with a slight citrusy taste. It is commonly used in making pastries, bread, and fish. It is also occasionally used as a replacement for salt in savory meals and is a key ingredient in curry.

Cumin Seeds (Jeera)

Cumin seeds have a nutty, somewhat bitter taste with a slight hint of lemon. It is used to flavor rice and stuffed vegetables, as well as add to a lot of savory dishes and curries (especially beef dishes). Often times, cilantro is also added.

Cardamom Black (Badi Elaichi or Kali Elaichi)

Cardamom is one of India’s favorite spices. It’s commonly used in curries, savory and sweet dishes, ice cream and custards. It is also the 3rd most expensive spice in the world. Cardamom has a sweet, lemony, eucalyptus flavor.

Mustard Seeds (Sarson/Shorshe/Rai)

Mustard seeds have a mild, somewhat bitter taste. Raw food can be cooked in oil flavored with mustard seeds or it can be poured over some dishes just before serving. They help emulsify liquids use in salad dressing recipes to help blend oil and vinegar and add a spicy zip. They are a popular addition to vegetable dishes, beans, pastries and pickles.

Turmeric Powder (Haldi)

Turmeric has a pungent, bitter flavor with scents of orange and ginger. It is one of India’s favorite spices and the 9th most expensive spice in the world. It is used in curries, fish dishes and with beans. Sometimes people use turmeric instead of saffron because of its bright, yellow color.

Red Chili Powder

Red chili powder is very hot because it is made from the hottest part of the chili, the dried, ground seeds of the chili. Unlike other chili powders, Indian chili powder is pure ground chilis.

Ginger (Adrak)

Ginger is both spicy and sweet. It can be used in sweet dishes, desserts, or in savory dishes such as hot curries and stir fries. It is considered an aphrodisiac.

Garam Masala

Garam Masala means “hot spices” and is made up of a mixture of ground spices (often cloves, cardamom, cumin, peppercorn, cinnamon, and bay leaves). The portions and spices change depending on what you’re making. Garam Masala is different for a fish recipe versus a beef or chicken recipe.

Cinnamon (Darchini)

Cinnamon is a sweet tasting spice and many find the smell of it to be calming. It’s the 5th most expensive spice in the world. It is available as a powder but a lot of people prefer it in stick form. Whole cinnamon is used for spacing hot drinks, ground – in  cakes, sweet dishes, fruit pies (especially apples), as well as being used in more savory dishes, such as curries, and combines perfectly with chicken.

Cloves (Laung/Lavang/Grambu)

Cloves have been used in India for thousands of years, not only in cooking, but to sweeten the breath and to relieve the pain of toothache. They contain a mild anesthetic. It’s the 4th most expensive spice in the world. Whole cloves are frequently used to flavor meat dishes, curries, and soups.

Fenugreek Seeds (Methi)

Fenugreek seeds have a curry-like taste. In fact, it is one of the main ingredients of curry powders. It is also used to add flavor to meat dishes. And is considered an aphrodisiac.

Fennel Seeds (Saunf or Mouri)

Fennel seeds taste like a more bitter version of black licorice. It’s used to sweeten curry dishes and is sometimes paired with peanuts or citrus fruits. They’re most popularly roasted and eaten after a meal to freshen the breath.

Nutmeg (Jaiphal)

Nutmeg has a slightly sweet, nutty taste. It is the 7th most expensive spice in the world. Nutmeg is used to add sweet and savory flavor to dishes such as pies, custards, puddings, cakes, soufflés, vegetables, egg dishes, lamb, fish, and beverages.

Peppercorns (Kali Mirchi)

Peppercorns have a pungent, woody aroma and hot, biting taste. It is the 8th most expensive spice in the world. Pepper is the only spice that is used to flavor food before, during and after cooking. Whole or grounded peppercorns can be added to most savory dishes.

Asafoetida

Asafoetida is also known as devil’s dung due to its pungent smell while raw. Most commonly used in powder form, asafoetida gets a truffle-like flavor and garlicy smell once cooked. It is mainly used for digestive purposes due to its supposed antiflatulence properties.

Saffron (Zaffran)

a pile of saffron threads on a rustic wooden table

Saffron has a distinctively pungent, honey-like flavor and aroma. It is by far the most expensive spice in the world with one pound costing anywhere between $2,200-8,000. It’s available in either thread and powder form. The threads can be lightly roasted, crumbled in a hot water and left to infuse to bring out their full strength. Saffron is used to color rice dishes, sweets, puddings, sauces and soups to bright yellow.

If there’s any spices you think should have been on the list that wasn’t, please comment below! Until our next adventure!

2,589 thoughts on “Spices”

  1. Taş kaplama, duvarlar, zeminler, şömineler, dış cephe, bahçe ve peyzaj düzenlemelerinde kullanılarak mekanlara doğal ve görsel olarak çekici bir görünüm kazandırır.

  2. I am now not positive the place you are getting your info, but
    good topic. I needs to spend some time studying much more or working
    out more. Thank you for magnificent info I used to be searching for this info for my mission.

  3. Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about
    this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with a few pics to drive
    the message home a bit, but instead of that, this is fantastic blog.

    A fantastic read. I will definitely be back.

  4. Have you ever thought about adding a little bit more than just your articles?

    I mean, what you say is important and all. However think about if you added some great
    graphics or video clips to give your posts
    more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with pics
    and videos, this website could certainly be one of the greatest in its field.
    Amazing blog!

  5. Whoa! This blog looks exactly like my old one! It’s on a entirely different topic but it has pretty much the same layout and design.
    Excellent choice of colors!

  6. I think this is among the most important information for me.
    And i’m glad reading your article. But should remark on few general things, The
    website style is ideal, the articles is really nice
    : D. Good job, cheers

  7. Hello great blog! Does running a blog such as this require a large amount of work?

    I have very little understanding of computer programming however I had been hoping to start
    my own blog soon. Anyhow, if you have any ideas or tips for new blog owners please share.
    I know this is off subject however I just had to
    ask. Cheers!

  8. Thank you for some other informative blog. The place else may I get that type of info written in such an ideal approach?
    I’ve a undertaking that I’m just now running on, and I have been on the glance out for such
    info.

  9. Today, while I was at work, my sister stole my iphone and
    tested to see if it can survive a 30 foot drop, just so she can be a
    youtube sensation. My iPad is now broken and she has
    83 views. I know this is completely off topic but I had to share it with
    someone!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *