Have you ever tried Indian food? If not, you are missing out on an entire world of delicious and aromatic dishes. Indian dishes are known for their ingenious use of many different spices. Some of these spices may be familiar to the average person. Others, however, are exotic and uniquely Indian. This article will guide you through some of the most common spices used in Indian dishes.
The three most basic spices found in every Indian home are salt, turmeric, and garam masala. These three staples are often used in everyday cooking. Salt of course is well-known all over the world and needs no further explanation. So, we will start with turmeric.
Turmeric (or Haldi in Indian English) comes from a root in the ginger family. It can be grated fresh, much in the same way as ginger, or bought in a dry powder form. Turmeric is a deep yellow-orange color that penetrates to color food and clothing if you are not careful. Be sure to wear an old apron when cooking with turmeric. Turmeric is also gaining popularity for its medicinal properties due to its anti-inflammatory and antibiotic effects.
Garam masala is actually not a spice, but rather a mixture of spices. Homemade garam masala varies in content from kitchen to kitchen, but generally contains coriander seeds, whole black pepper, cinnamon sticks, and cumin seeds. If you are looking to buy garam masala, check the ethnic aisle of your grocery store or an Indian food store. This combination of spices might be considered the secret spice of Indian food. It is often what gives Indian food its distinctive taste.
Cloves are also frequently used in many Indian dishes. These are actually dried up tiny flower buds. Some people even add cloves to their garam masala mixture. Cloves add a very strong flavor to food and can even create a sort of a numbing effect in your mouth. For this reason, clove oil is often used in the treatment of toothaches and other mouth complaints. While cloves are sometimes used in other cultures in making desserts, they are rarely used so in Indian cuisine.
Mustard seeds are another of the different Indian spices used. Black mustard seeds are used to give a stronger flavor to foods, whereas yellow mustard seeds are not as powerful. White mustard seeds are the mildest flavored of the three mustard seeds used in Indian cooking. As with many other spices, mustard seeds are often used in the beginning stages of cooking Indian food, being added to the ghee (Indian term for hot oil).
Nutmeg is also a spice that many people are familiar with, although you may mostly use it in desserts. Nutmeg, however, is used in main dishes in Indian cuisine rather than desserts.
Many Indian dishes use red chili powder to heat things up. Red chili powder is made when dried chili peppers are finely ground into a spicy powder. Do not mistake this chili powder for the same kind that is used in Mexican dishes. They are not the same. Indian chili powder has a much brighter red hue to it than its darker-colored Mexican counterpart. If you cannot find Indian chili powder, it is better to use cayenne or paprika as a substitute.
Another unique Indian spice is saffron. Saffron is commonly used to add rich flavor and beautiful color to many Indian dishes. Unfortunately, saffron is possibly one of the most expensive spices you can buy. Why is it so expensive? A main reason is that a lot of labor goes into harvesting and storing this pungent spice. Saffron threads are actually the dried stigmas of the purple crocus flower. Only three saffron threads come from each flower. Therefore, it takes 4,667 crocus flowers to produce just one ounce of saffron! If you find this spice for a good price, be sure to buy double.
Now there are also many lesser known Indian spices. Asafoetida (also known as Hing) is actually the sap from the stem and root of a plant. The sap is then dried into a hard resin. Do not be turned off by this spice’s strong and unpleasant smell. This smell disappears when you place the Asafoetida in ghee. It adds to food a flavor akin to that of green onions. The resin is ground into a powder form before it is cooked. Due to its strong smell, you would do best to keep it in an air-tight container away from the other spices so as to avoid permeation. And remember to use this spice sparingly, since just a little bit goes a long way.
Tej patta are the leaves of the tamalpatra tree. These leaves when dried look sort of like bay leaves except that tej patta leaves have three veins in them. These leaves have a hint of cinnamon fragrance to them when browned in oil.
If you are looking for something to add to breads to give them a distinctive Indian flavor, you could try adding carom seed. These grayish and pungent tiny seeds have a similar taste to that of thyme. These seeds also have medicinal properties since they work as an antiseptic and aid in digestion.
Cinnamon has been mentioned as an ingredient in garam masala, but it is also frequently used by itself in Indian dishes to give a warm aroma and taste to food. It is used in stick form as well as powdered. To add extra flavor and aroma to a dish, simply break up a few pieces of a cinnamon stick and add it to hot oil before cooking your dish.
And finally there is panch foron (also known as five spice mix). This spice mix, commonly used in pickling, is made up of cumin seeds, nigella seeds, radhuni, fenugreek seeds, and fennel seeds.
Now when you eat at an Indian restaurant, or better yet, cook your own Indian dishes, you will be able to recognize some of the more common Indian spices.
