My Indian Spices 101
As I have mentioned before, Indian cuisine – flavors, methods, textures, colors and aromas, all vary from one region to another in India. There is a strong influence of locally available produce, grains, meats and seafood on what people cook and eat in any part of India. To a person who is new to Indian cooking, the list of basic spices needed for any recipe can be unnerving. But please don’t be intimidated by the spice list, once you’ve stocked up your pantry with the basics, you’re set. If you think, you won’t be cooking Indian foods as frequently, I would suggest buying your spices at the bulk section of your grocery store. This way you can buy as much or as little as you like. Or pick the smallest package that is available at your Indian/Asian grocery store. Also, you can store your spices in the freezer to maintain their freshness and flavor for a longer time.
My spice essentials, in order of frequency of use and liking are:
- Coriander powder – Made from coriander seeds. These come from coriander/cilantro plant and help in digestion. I cannot function without fresh ground coriander powder in my kitchen. I buy coriander seeds and then grind them to a powder using my coffee grinder – which I don’t use for grinding coffee…:P. I like my coriander powder to retain some texture so I don’t grind it to an absolute powder. This way it adds a nice texture to the curries/lentils that I use it in.
- Cumin – Cumin seeds along with asafoetida (known as Heeng) are the absolute starting point of my most vegetarian dishes. Toasting cumin seeds in oil to release its earthy and warm flavor is Indian cooking done right from the very beginning. Cumin seeds can be dry roasted and ground to a powder to be used in certain curries or flavoring yogurt to make raita. Cumin seeds also form the base of garam masala, which is a magical blend of various spices and is used to finish a dish.
- Turmeric – This deep yellow spice comes from the dried root of turmeric plant. Growing up, my father would plant turmeric and it would sit neglected in a corner of our vegetable patch for months. When it was time to harvest, tiny, almost ginger like roots would be dug out and set to dry. Fresh turmeric is very potent and has a very strong flavor. It can be added to smoothies (in a very small amount) to reap its health benefits. Using turmeric in your foods daily is really good for you with the benefits ranging from it being anti-inflammatory, immune-boosting, anti-depressant, good for your bones, can be used in managing diabetes, among others. A cup of steaming milk with some turmeric and honey mixed in it is a go to remedy for coughs, colds, and provides comfort if you have any sort of injury. Turmeric adds a distinct yellow tinge to any dish it’s added to. I use a tiny bit of turmeric in almost all of my recipes.
- Red Chilli powder – There is wide range of ‘hotness’ in which you can buy chilli powders, ranging from burning hot to extremely mild. I do add chilli powder to my Indian recipes but mostly for color so I normally use a mild red chilli powder.
- Ajwain – or carom seeds is another indian/middle-eastern spice that promote digestion and over-all gut health. These look like a smaller version of cumin seeds, just more round. It has a strong pungent flavor and a small amount of ajwain used in any dish can result in an “ajwain-flovored” dish..:P. Its great to be used in flat breads made for breakfast to give your day a kick-start and is also used in dishes that are ‘heavy’ or difficult to digest.
- Mustard Seeds – are not traditionally used in North Indian dishes and is more prominently used in South India. I often make south Indian recipes too and that’s where I use mustard seeds for tempering. They are added to hot oil in the beginning of a recipe and they split and pop with heat to release a beautiful smell and flavor the oil.
- Green Cardamom – A very potent spice with a beautiful, fresh but strong flavor. It is used a lot in desserts and also in most of rich, and creamy gravies or curries. Dr. A. also uses it in his tea and can also be added to a lot of rice, biryani and pulao dishes. The pods can be used whole to flavor the oil in whic a curry is being cooked or the pods can be opened to get the seeds out, which can be then ground to use as a powder.
- Others: Other similar spices, each with its own flavor profile and health benefits include whole cloves, cinnamon, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, bay leaves, dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) etc.
Traditionally, the everyday used spices are kept in a masaaldaani/masala dabba, also simply called a spice box. It is your go-to box and has an assembly of spices that you need to quickly temper a daal, make a curry or any dry dish. It is a must have if you cook Indian food 4-5 times a week. Here is mine:
I can go on and on about all other masalas used – which are basically mixtures of the above spices plus some others in different combinations and quantities..but that’s a post for another day!
Love – Vaishali.
Urmila deven
September 15, 2018 at 5:44 pmGreat information about all Indian spices…
I love photo actually
Nice
Stephanie | Adventures in Aussieland
September 16, 2018 at 4:01 amI have severe gastrointestinal disorders and recently have only been able to stomach liquids. I was in Bali for two weeks for work and oh my goodness, the food totally helped out my stomach. I really need to learn some more Indian dishes because they were incredible and totally settled my stomach issues.
The Mami Cam
September 16, 2018 at 10:57 amThis is so cool! thank you for sharing I now know where to used them, I have a few of those at home 🙂
Annie Cho
September 16, 2018 at 11:43 pmI love all these spices, especially turmeric! There’s so many health benefits to it as well!
xoxo
Annie
Casey
September 17, 2018 at 2:00 amI love spices for all my cooking. They have so many health benefits as well as taste amazing too. No matter what type of protein, veg, you can always find the right spice combinations to the best taste. Shame that we cannot always get everything in the market but enough for the most popular ones.
Rosey
September 17, 2018 at 4:50 amI feel a little out of the loop but I thought chili powder was only one type of hotness. I guess I need to get with it and explore the flavors available besides traditional.
LavandaMichelle
September 17, 2018 at 7:18 amI love to eat these nicely and sometimes Spicy foods. Never tried at home, but I have several lovely restaurants in my area. I think I might add some seasons into my food.
Erica
September 17, 2018 at 8:11 amvery interesting… ive always been into herbs and spices.. really wanna know the science behind their effects on food/ taste… really hope to learn more from you!
Devyani Ray
September 17, 2018 at 2:41 pmYou covered the basics well! Lovely post.
Stacey
September 17, 2018 at 7:08 pmThe only one I have’t tried in Ajwain. I’ll have to look for recipes that use it in the future.
Evelyn Hernandez
September 17, 2018 at 9:27 pmWe love turmeric and use it often. I even use it in our golden milk every evening
LiveLoveAndAdventure
September 17, 2018 at 11:34 pmI don’t use many spices in my cooking but recently found a few recipes that include tumeric, and love it! It has definitely made me want to be a little more adventurous with my cooking!
Oana Durican
September 18, 2018 at 11:26 amThough I am not used to adding many spices in my food, I must admit that some of them are very healthy too.
Katherine G Beck
September 19, 2018 at 8:42 amI have not tried Ajwain, but will look out for it. I have to tell you, I have only recently discovered how truly wonderful Indian spices are- and the cuisine overall. Most of my life I always assumed I did not like, but never really gave it a chance. But boy was I ever wrong…turmeric is now one of my favorites and I love coriander – i have even found ways to incorporate into a few sweets I make too.
Vaishali
September 19, 2018 at 11:09 pmThanks Katherine for your kind words. My kitchen cannot function without coriander.
Mommy Sigrid
September 19, 2018 at 11:02 amI have never tried the cardamom and mustard seeds ever. I wonder how they taste. Well, I have yet to come across a recipe using them anyway. So for now, I don’t need them.
Acupofassamtea
September 19, 2018 at 1:37 pmI can’t imagine my kitchen and cooking without those spices. Lovely informative post.
Lenna
September 28, 2018 at 8:09 amIndian cuisine is very interesting. A lot of things ade happening to my mouth when eating Indian food. Nice to know the spices behind ☺️
Magen
June 7, 2019 at 3:04 pmI discovered cardamum a few years back and absolutely fell in love with it. It’s probably one of my favorite spices now, right up there with cinnamon and ginger, and clove. I actually add it to most of “fall” spiced baking now for just that little bit of an added zing. It never fails to get compliments.
oreoluwa moronfola
June 7, 2019 at 5:29 pmI love spices, in my country the spicier the food the better that’s why i love Indian food. And spices are really good for you.
Janet E Rose
June 7, 2019 at 9:06 pmI am very glad to learn about this. I enjoy cooking, but I do not always try new things. You have inspired me to try something new. Thank you for sharing.
Sophie
June 7, 2019 at 11:44 pmWe Indians can never be tired of using or showing off our masala dabbas. Such a beautiful post.
Neil Alvin
June 8, 2019 at 12:17 amNow I know why Indian dishes tastes awesome. 🙂
Megan
June 8, 2019 at 9:34 amI already have a few of these, and am definitely adding the rest of them to my spice collection so I can try new recipes. Thanks for sharing!
siennylovesdrawing
June 8, 2019 at 8:31 pmenjoyed my read & learnt a lot of spices ideas & benefits from this sharing. Thanks for sharing this! cheers, siennylovesdrawing
Pool Operator Talk
June 8, 2019 at 9:32 pmthe medicinal properties of Indian spices are amazing and vast. I’ve recently began investigating the use of Turmeric and so far I have been super impressed with the results,
Jessie
June 9, 2019 at 8:46 amI love cooking with spices, especially ones I can grow in my yard. Thanks for sharing this information, I can’t wait to try some of your recipes!
Ashli Ferguson
June 9, 2019 at 8:11 pmI’ve never really used a lot of herbs or spices but these sound really good!
Alexa Pilo
June 9, 2019 at 10:39 pmSpices are a great ingredient in all meals, they put that gourmet touch! However, using some spices in infusion or teas also helps health. thanks for sharing.
Thuy
June 10, 2019 at 1:45 amI love eating foods with varying spices and flavors. My mom has a majority of these spices at home for when she cooks
Blake Ancell
June 10, 2019 at 7:39 amWow I never knew this… thanks for the info!
Blairvillanueva
June 10, 2019 at 8:12 amThanks for sharing lots of this info. Indian spices are really good 🙂
Ukiyoto
June 10, 2019 at 9:52 amLove reading your posts more so the comments underneath.. Is really a good freshener after a hard day.. 🙂
Hailey
June 10, 2019 at 10:14 amSuch great basic spices! I’ll definitely try to incorporate these more into my everyday eating 🙂
pooja Malkani
June 10, 2019 at 1:03 pmamazing post!Medicinal properties of spices are quite surprising.
Samantha Flores
June 10, 2019 at 3:59 pmInteresting choices in spices! My cupboard is very bland, unfortunately. I just may need to spice it up (pun intended) with some of your selections mentioned here!
Hackytips
June 10, 2019 at 4:26 pmNow I can show this post to my foreign friends who keep on asking about Indian spices. Great work!
Sarah Meh
June 11, 2019 at 11:13 amI love Indian spices. The aroma is just awesome! * smeh
Reshma
June 18, 2021 at 11:24 amThis blog is very informative and easy to understand .Thanks for sharing!!!
Regards,
Reshu
Organic Turmeric
Organic Cardamom
Organic Pepper
Organic Dried ginger
Organic clove
Vaishali
June 24, 2021 at 11:39 amThanks a lot Reshma!