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| Black pepper |
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Native to South India, black
pepper adds flavour to almost every food of every nation
in the world. It has a sharp, penetrating aroma and a
characteristic woody, piney flavour. It is hot and biting
to taste. Black pepper plays vital role in Indian cuisine.
Virtually every Indian dish includes black pepper in either
whole or ground form for enhanced flavour and aroma. |
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| Bay leaves |
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Also known as laurel, bay leaves
are among the oldest herbs used in cooking. They have
a distinctively strong, aromatic, spicy flavour. They
are used in soups, stews, stocks, pickles, marinades,
tomato dishes, and meats. |
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| Black cardamom |
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Widely known as badi elaichi
in India, black cardamom has a fresh and aromatic flavour.
It is used mostly in Indian curries for distinct aromatic
flavour and sometimes also used as a valuable ingredient
in garam masala powder. |
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| Chilli |
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An indispensable spice used
in Indian gourmet style curries. The chilli pepper has
evolved into a number of distinct species and varieties,
taking on various shapes and levels of pungency, depending
on the soil, rainfall and temperatures. There are even
more flavours than shapes. In India, the most popular
chillies are Dried Red Dundicut Chillies and Kashmiri
Chillies. Chilli powder is widely used in all parts of
the sub-continent especially for reddening curries. It
gets milder when added in curries. |
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| Coriander |
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Known as "Dhania"
in India, coriander is usually consumed with three types,
seeds, powder and fresh leaves. Coriander seed is a flavourful
aromatic spice with a pungent, slightly sweet lemony flavour.
It is a key spice in garam masala and Indian curries.
Coriander powder is the grinded version of coriander seeds.
Very aromatic and an important constituent in any mixture
of curry spices. It is also a key ingredient in garam
masala powder. Coriander leaves have a distinct taste
from coriander seeds and powder. They are fresh leaves
and juicier with citrus-like notes. Coriander leaves are
an essential ingredient in many Indian chutneys. They
are widely used in cooking and sprinkled over dishes as
a garnish. |
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| Cumin |
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A very important ingredient
in Indian cooking, especially North Indian curries. Cumin
is used as a main spice in curry powder and curry seasoning
(tadka). North Indian meat and vegetable curries are mostly
flavoured with cumin seeds. It is also a very important
ingredient of ayurvedic cooking for thousands of years.
It releases its wonderful aroma when exposed to heat or
fried in oil. Cumin powder is also widely used for making
curry powder. Black cumin is also available in India and
has more or less similar use. They are very aromatic and
used to flavour curries and rice as seasonings. |
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| Caraway seed |
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Due to the similar usage,
caraway seed is usually confused with cumin. It is pleasantly
aromatic and biting with a sweet but slightly biting and
spicy flavour. Mostly used in Indian cooking for flavouring
and seasoning the curries. |
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| Cinnamon |
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Warming to taste, cinnamon
is sweet and pungent, woody, musty and earthy in flavour
and aroma. A major ingredient of garam masala, also used
whole in savoury rice dishes. |
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| Cinnamon leaf |
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Known as "Tej"
or "Tujpatta" in India, cinnamon is the cinnamon
flavoured leaf with a sharp and strong flavour. It is
mostly used in gravies and rice dishes and is only available
in India. |
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| Cloves |
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An important ingredient
in the spice blends of North India, cloves are used in
garam masala, biryanis, and pickles. They are one of the
oldest spices in the world. Usually used whole, it finds
extensive application in Indian foods. Clove is also highly
recommended for making pickles, ketchups, and several
kinds of sweets. |
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| Fresh green chillies |
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Fresh green chillies are an important ingredient
in making curries in India. They are used as whole, half
cut, chopped, slit and deseeded in the curries each giving
a different level of pungency and taste to the meal. |
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| Fenugreek seeds |
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Known as methi in India,
Fenugreek seeds are tangy in flavour, slightly bitter
and provide powerful curry scent to the vegetable and
lentil dishes. They give a special flavour to fish dishes
and used in some chicken and mutton dishes as well. Fenugreek
seeds are also used in curry powders in grinded form.
Usually roasted before using, they give a mellow flavour
when roasted light and bitter flavour when roasted dark.
Soaked seeds can also be used as main ingredient for vegetables
or chutneys. Fenugreek leaves are used to flavour meat
and vegetarian dishes. |
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| Fennel seeds |
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Usually named as aniseeds
in Indian cooking, Fennel seeds is the original name to
this spice. Known as "Saunf" in India, they
are very aromatic and widely used in both whole and ground
form. |
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| Green cardamom |
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Green cardamom is known
as the the queen of all spices. It has a history as old
as human race and is one of the highly prized spices in
the world. It has well established culinary values, in
Indian cooking. It is an important ingredient of garam
masala. Tea and coffee made with cardamom are pleasantly
aromatic and refreshing. |
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| Garam masala |
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The Spice of India, garam masala
is a unique combination of spices. It traditionally includes
cinnamon, cloves, black pepper and black cardamom. This
aromatic mixture of spices heats the body that is why
it actually means “hot spices”. Garam masala
does not have a standard spice mixture as such. Every
Indian and Pakistani home has its own family recipe. It
has numerous combinations available all over India in
whole or powdered form. It mostly contains dried red chillies,
fresh green chillies, garlic, ginger, sesame, mustard
seeds, turmeric, coriander, cloves, black pepper, cardamom,
cinnamon, bay leaves, cumin, nutmeg, mace and fennel. |
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| Mustard seeds |
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In India, mustard is used largely
for tempering food. In South India, it is fried in hot
oil with curry leaves, chopped onion and then poured over
curries. Mustard may very well be the starting point of
some dishes. Many exotic dishes of India contain mustard
as one of their major constituents. |
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| Nutmeg & Mace |
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Also kown as jaiphal in
India, nutmeg is the produce of the nutmeg tree, which
also produces mace, another very important spice. Nutmeg
is always used in powdered form in Indian cooking. It
is used sparingly in Indian cooking in both curries and
sweet dishes. Mace is the dried aril that surrounds the
nutmeg seed in the fruit. It has the similar taste qualities
to nutmeg. It is mainly used for sprinkling on meat curries
towards the end of cooking. Mace has been the favourite
condiment among Muslim court cooks of Lucknow. Both nutmeg
and mace are used in vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.
They are used extensively in pulaos and biryanis especially
the Mughlai types. |
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| Poppy seeds |
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Poppy seeds are nut-like
in flavour, usually grinded to paste and used in curries.
Known in India as "Khuskhus", they are also
used whole in Indian cooking. Indian spice blends rely
on crushed poppy seeds for flavour and texture. |
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| Star aniseeds |
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Known as "Badian"
in India, star aniseeds have a distinct aromatic flavour
that enriches the taste of curries. It is also used in
powdered form in Indian curries. It is mostly used in
Kashmir and southern parts of India. |
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| Saffron |
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The most expensive spice
by weight, saffron is derived from the flowers of the
saffron Corcus. It was a favourite ingredient in the Moghul
courts and was always the part of their cuisine. Popular
mughlai dishes such as biryanis, pulaos and kesari murgh
include saffron as a traditional ingredient. |
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| Turmeric |
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Turmeric is a bright yellow
and bitter tasting spice, used mostly as powder in Indian
dishes mainly for colour rather than adding flavour. It
is a prime ingredient in curry powder and figures prominently
in Indian cuisines. It imparts a vivid yellow colour to
the food. Turmeric is used to colour as well as flaour
rice dishes (biryanis) and curries. |
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