Spice It Up

By Flagthis -

homep


Yes, I'm always looking for an easy way out in the kitchen ("Just kitchen?" I can feel my husband smirk). I agree that elaborate cooking is very often unnecessary. I substitute quite often with frozen veggies and canned tomatoes. But, there are a few things that I will/can/shall not compromise with. Fresh spices is number one in that short list.


My biggest concern with store bought mixes, especially the Indian kind, is that they are full of less expensive spices like turmeric, coriander, red chilies etc, and hence have little aroma or flavor. They rarely have expiry dates and owing to the fact that they have been sitting on the store shelves forever, most of them end up tasting the same. I know I'm stepping on many toes while writing this. But, unless you want your food to taste boringly like everybody else's, I wouldn't recommend them.


Wouldn't you love to give a unique flavor to your cooking with just a tad bit more of effort? Oh, it is so worth it. Whole spices keep fresh for very long periods when stored in air tight containers in a cool place. The spices are so intense that very little goes a long way. You can mix and match the spices on the go to create your own new flavors. Roasting and grinding them up on the fly takes little as 5 -10 minutes. You can make them ahead of time in moderate quantities and store them in air tight containers for later use. My songs of praise can go on.


- I simply use home made spice mixes to give an identity and individuality to my cooking.



Cinnamon and Cloves Spice Mix

 

cloveandcinnamon This spice mix is a blend of cinnamon and cloves in 1:1 ratio(by weight). The combination of these two spices give a very unique flavor. Again, this is a very intense spice mix and should be used very sparingly. [read more..]

 


 




 




 




  Kerala Garam Masala




kgmside21 I finally got off the phone with my Mom who ok’ed my proportions for the kerala garam masala! I’m sorry I kept you waiting. It took time because I couldn’t have her tsking while reading this post. [read more..]


 




 




 




 




 Three Cs Spices(Cardamom Cinnamon Clove Spice Mix)




kgmside2This spice mix is a blend of cardamons, cinnamon and cloves in the ratio (by weight) 1:2:2 [read more..]




 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 Punjabi Garam Masala


 
pgmside Some years ago while working for an Indian company I had to move to Bloomington, IL, [read more]

 


 


 


 


 


 


 

Kashmiri Garam Masala

kgmpsideSome years ago while working for an Indian company I had to move to Bloomington, IL, for an assignment at an American ..[read more]

 


 


 


 


 


 



 

Comments

  1. Kavitha JadhavJanuary 12, 2010 at 1:34 PM

    Amazing pics!! Btw, I am everything opposite to what you have stated :-). We make a good pair of cooks :-).

    ReplyDelete
  2. julieJanuary 13, 2010 at 3:41 PM

    ok, i agree to pair up if you let me cook and u do the cleaning ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. soniaFebruary 7, 2010 at 8:55 PM

    that bit about mom was really cute.....must show it to her

    ReplyDelete

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