Spices in my kitchen

Indian civilisation is one of the oldest in the world. It had its distinct and unique culture, music, literature and, of course, a cuisine rich in spices. 

India is the spice bowl of the world, and Indian cuisine uses a vast number of spices. Even during ancient times, these Indian spices were not limited to India. Indian spices were regularly exported to Egypt, Mesopotamia, and later to Greece, Rome and beyond through ports like Lothal in present-day Gujrat, Muziris in present-day Kerala and Puhar in present-day Chennai. Initially, the spices were exported as medicines. Soon, the flavours these spices impart to any dish made them favourites everywhere, though because of the prices only the rich could afford them. 

If you pick any Indian dish at random, it would have five to fifty different spices. The mixing of spices gives the Indian dishes a complex, multi-layered and unique taste and aroma. Each spice in a mixture not only lends its taste and aroma but might also modify the taste and aroma of other spices, making the whole experience very different from the sum of spices. It is like a medley of musical instruments, creating a symphony in one's mouth and nose. 

But that is just a part of the story. The ancient Indian literature of medicine Ayurveda mentions the advantages and disadvantages of each spice and the methods of its use for various ailments. These spices were not just for taste but also to regulate the whole body, with each spice providing the necessary micro-nutrients. For example, ginger was not just for its sharp, biting taste but was also a medicine for coughs and colds. Fenugreek seeds help regulate blood pressure, cholesterol and the digestive system. So the spice rack in an Indian kitchen is also the medicine corner in each household, providing a home remedy for most common ailments. Having spices regularly was like taking a tonic every day, built into the meals. 

Indian cuisine has spice mixtures for practically every special and everyday dish. The collective term for the spice in Hindi is Masala, and the specific spice mixtures are usually named for the dish. So we have Chole Masala used for Garbanzo beans and Rajma Masala for Kidney beans.... the list is long. When I was learning to cook, I discovered that every Indian cuisine cook has his/her unique recipe for each masala mix, and these were passed on from generation to generation. As a result, each kitchen had its unique masala that lent a distinct taste to a dish. In the last few decades, this has changed.  More and more cooks depend on commercially packaged spice mixtures, which makes a dish prepared in any kitchen taste nearly the same. This has its upside; while one loses on uniqueness, one gains hugely on convenience. 

But the recent news about the additives and impurities in the ready-made spice mixtures has me worried. I see them on the spice racks of every kitchen, my children included. Which is also understandable. With more and more women joining the workforce, cooking is usually left to professional domestic cooks who, for efficiency, depend on the same commercial spice mixtures. In this process, unfortunately, the younger generation is becoming unfamiliar with the various spices that make Indian cuisine, Indian. The art of preparing the spice mixtures, passed on to us by our mothers, is getting lost just due to lack of time and interest. 

This blog is to reintroduce Indian food lovers ( my children included) to the various spices used in an Indian kitchen, with recipes for many spices mixtures that can be easily prepared at home. When I started looking for recipes, I found plenty. A major issue was the lack of standardisation of measures. Some recipes measured the ingredients in cups, teaspoons, baby spoons, table spoons, a katori. I even came across some that talked about a handful or a pinch. To deal with these differences, I have prepared a table converting most spices from volume to weight. This includes all major ( and some minor) spices in our kitchen. 

A conversion table for various spices from Volume to Weight. 

Most recipes are given in terms of volume. The issue is that we don't go to the grocery store and ask for a cupful of cumin, we buy by weight. This table should help convert one to the other and help remove any ambiguity in a recipe due to the size of a cup or a spoon. While these weight-to-volume conversions are a guide, they cannot be absolute since there might be variation due to the quality of the spices as well as the region. 

Spice		Volume	Weight	Number
Cumin seeds	Jeera	100 ml	50 gm
Fennel seeds coarse	Moti saunf	100 ml	47 gm
Fennel seeds fine	Barik saunf	100 ml	51 gm
Coriander seeds	Sabut dhania	100 ml	30 gm
Cloves	Lavang	100 ml	45 gm	5 gm = 60#
Black Cardamom	doda, kali ilaychi	100 ml	35 gm	100 gm = 37#
Black pepper	kali mirch	100 ml	55 gm
Nutmeg	Jaiphal			1 pod =~4 gm
Dried Ginger (Julienne)	saunth katri	100 ml	30 gm
Green Cardamom pods	hari ilayachi	100 ml	39 gm
Ground turmeric powder	pisi haldi	100 ml	55 gm
Ground Red Chili	pisi lal mirch	100 ml	40 gm
Ground Coriander seeds	pisa dhania	100 ml	33 gm
Dried Raw Mango powder	amchur	100 ml	53 gm
Whole dried Moringa leaves	kari patta	100 ml	3 gm
Sesame seeds	Til	100 ml	62gm
Black Mustard seeds	Rai	100 ml	75 gm
Yellow Mustard seeds	Sarson	100 ml	70 gm
Carom seeds	Ajwain	100 ml	50 gm
Star Anise	Chakra phool	100 ml	35 gm	35 gm = 40 stars
Table Salt	sada namak	100 ml	135 gm
Black Salt	Kala Namak	100 ml	97 gm
fenugreek seeds	Dana methi	100 ml	80 gm
Asafoetida	Heeng	15 ml	10 gm
Whole wheat flour	Atta	100 ml	60 gm
Wheat Flour	Maida	100 ml	63 gm
Chick Pea flour	Besan	100 ml	50 gm
Semolina	Suji	100 ml	80 gm
Split Chick Pea lentil	Chana dal	100 ml	92 gm
Split Green gram lentil	Moong Dal	100 ml	85 gm
Split Pigeon lentil	Toor dal	100 ml	100 gm
Split Black gram lentil	Urad dal	100 ml	90 gm
Kidney bean	Rajma	100 ml	87 gm
Garbanzo beans	Kabuli Chana	100 ml	85 gm
Flax seeds	Alsi beej	100 ml	65 gm
Sunflower seeds	Soorajmukhi beej	100 ml	60 gm
Pumpkin seeds	Pethe  beej	100 gm	65 gm
Watermelon seeds	Tarbooj beej	100 gm	60 gm
Sesame seeds	Til	100 gm	60 gm

The Masalas: Recipes

Until a generation ago, a normal household would buy all spices once a year according to their harvesting season and store them for use throughout the year. To ensure a long shelf life, the spices must be cleaned and kept in dry (and usually dark) cupboards. They even used salt crystals to prevent any mites. Only a small portion of each spice would be kept on the kitchen shelf for everyday use, with the bulk kept in storage. 

The spices, bought from the market, are likely to have some moisture in them. It is necessary to ensure they are dry either through drying in the sun or by heating on a very low flame. Additional heating ensures that the masalas are crisp when ground. 

When drying spices to make a mixture, I heat the biggest spice pieces first and add the tiniest pieces only towards the end. Heating also enhances the aroma, but too much heating would also evaporate the more volatile components of the spices, before they find their way to the dish. So stop heating as soon as you get the tiniest whiff of the spices. 

Most Indian dishes involve tempering ( Tadka / Chaunk). In this process, the spices or masalas are added to heated ghee or oil. Ensuring, that the ghee is hot enough for the cumin to sputter but is cool enough before the red chillies are added, is an art to be taken seriously by any lover of Indian cuisine. 

The recipes specified here are for small quantities, a few hundred grams. But they can easily be scaled up. Making smaller quantities ensures fresh masala. Since the masalas mentioned here are pre-ground, they should be added to a warm dish, preferably just before removing it from the heat source and never to a cold dish. The spiciest dishes should also be the richest in ghee/oil. Without the ghee/oil, the spices can create a lot of trouble in the digestive system. So if you want to avoid fat, use less masala.

Shahi Paneer Masala ( Makes about 130 gm)

	Ingredient	Amount in grams / piece
1	Whole Chillies Kashmiri	30gm
2	Cardamom ( hari Ilaychi)	8 gm
3	Cloves ( Loong)	2 gm
4	Cumin ( jeera)	16gm
5	Pepper Corn ( Doda)	2 gm
6	Cinnamon ( Dalchini)	12 gm
7	Whole Corriander seeds ( sabut Dhania)	36 gm
8	Star Anise ( chakra phool)	8 stars
9	Nutmeg ( Jaiphal)	8 gm
10	Mace (Javitri)	4 flowers
11	Black Pepper ( Kali Mirch)	22 gm
12	Turmeric Powder	16 gm
13	Tomato Powder optional	5-10 gm
14	Garlic Powder Optional	5 gm

Chole Masala ( Makes about 250 gm)

I have used this masala with boiled Kabuli chana (Garbanjo beans) as well as simple chana dal with equally satisfying results.

	Ingredients	Amount in gm / pieces
1	Asfoetida ( Heeng)	½ tbsp
2	Whole Corriander seeds	30 gm
3	Cloves	4 gm
4	Cumin	75 gm
5	Black Pepper ( kali mirch)	50 gm
6	Peppercorn	4 gm
7	Cinnamon	4 inchs
8	Mace	2 flowers
9	Fennel Coarse (hari moti Saunf )	8 gm
10	Shah Jeera	8 gm
11	Sesame seeds (til)	5gm
12	Kashmiri whole chilli or powder	15 gm
13	(Ajwain)	4 gm
14	Raw mango powder ( amchur)	25 gm
15	Kasuri methi	13 gm
16	Turmeric powder	13 gm

Dal Makhani Masala ( Makes about 225 kms)

This can be used with Urad dal, kali masoor or plain yellow lentil. 

 

	Ingredients	Amount in gm / pieces
1	Whole coriander seeds	28 gm
2	Kashmiri red chillies	4 gm
3	Amchur	13 gm
4	Doda	3 gm
5	Black pepper	23 gm
6	Cinnamon	3 inches = 3gm
7	Star anise	2 gm
8	Dried ginger	8 gm
9	Jaiphal	4 gm
10	Javitri	8 flowers
11	Bayleaf	10 leaves
12	Asfoetida	2 tsp
13	Cumin seeds	60 gm
14	Cloves	6 gm
15	Turmeric powder	55 gm
16	Kasuri methi powder	16 gm

Rajma Masala (makes about 240 gm)

Use this with kidney beans of any  colour and size. 

	Ingredients	Amount in gm / pieces
1	Whole coriander seeds	60 gm
2	Kashmiri red chillies	30 gm
3	Amchur	25 gm
4	Doda	12 gm
5	Jaiphal	8 gm
6	Javitri	8 gm
7	Asfoetida	1/2 tsp
8	Bayleaf	8 gm
9	Black pepper corn	12 gm
10	Cloves	2 gm
11	Cumin seeds	35 gm
12	Ajwain	5 gm
13	Dried ginger	18 gm

Chcken Masala ( makes about 225 gm)

	Ingredients	Amount in gm or number
1	Black pepper corn ( doda)	25gm
2	Fennel seeds coarse ( moti saunf)	25 gm
3	Cumin seeds ( jeera)	25 gm
4	Khuskhus seeds	50 gm
5	Cardamom ( hari Ilayachi)	25 gm
6	Dried Curry leaves ( moringa kadi patta)	2-3 handful
7	Turmeric powder	25 gm
8	Bayleaf ( tejpatta)	10#
9	Star anise	5 gm
10	Cinnamon ( Dalchini)	5 gm
11	Cloves ( Loong)	5 gm
12	Kapok buds ( marathi moggu, nar loong)	5 gm
13	Pathar phool, black stone flower	5 gm
14	Black pepper ( kali mirch)	25 gm

Biryani Masala ( Makes about 200 gm)

For the famous Hyderabadi dish. Use it for both vegetarian and meat version. 

	Ingredients	Amount
1	Cumin ( Jeera)	16 gm
2	Bayleaf ( Tejpatta)	16
3	Star Anise	8 gm
4	Cardamom ( Ilaychi)	6 gm
5	Black pepper corn ( Doda)	6 pieces
6	Cinnamon ( Dalchini)	30 inch
7	Cloves( Lavang)	8 gm
8	Fennel seeds coarse ( moti saunf)	24 gm
9	Pepper ( kali mirch)	6 gm
10	Whole Corriander seeds ( dhania sabut)	32 gm
11	Shah jeera	38 gm
12	Mace ( Javitri)	8 gm
13	Nutmeg ( Jaiphal)	8 gm
14	Black stone flower ( pathar phool, dagad phool)	6 gm
15	Kashmiri red chilli	8 gm
16	Turmeric powder optional	15 gm

Pav-Bhaji Masala ( Makes about 200 gm)

For the famous Mumbai street food. 

	Ingredients	Amount
1	Star anise	6 flowers
2	Kashmiri dried red chillies	10 gm
3	Bayleaf ( Tejpatta)	4 leaves
4	Whole coriander seeds	40 gm
5	Cinnamon ( dalchini)	4 inch/4 gm
6	Fennel Coarse ( Moti saunf)	30 gm
7	Cumin ( Jeera)	45 gm
8	Pepper ( Kali Mirch)	15 gm
9	Cloves ( lavang)	2 gm
10	Cardamom ( hari Ilaychi)	4 pods
11	Black pepper corn ( Doda)	6 gm
12	Dried raw mango (Amchur )	16 gm
13	Dried ginger ( saunth)	2 gm
14	Turmeric ( Haldi)	6 gm
15	Black stone flower ( kalpasi, dagad phool)	6 phool
16	Black salt	10 ml

Chaat Masala ( Makes about 350 gm)

Can be added to provide zing to any fruit salad or Chaat: the spicy Indian street food. 

S.No.	Ingredients	Amount
1	Jeera cumin  roasted	60gm
2	Red chiili powder or whole chillies	24 gm
3	Black pepper	6 gm
4	Loong cloves	2 gm
5	Jaiphal nutmeg	1piece or 4 gm
6	Dried mint leaves	6-7 gm
7	Amchur raw mango powder Can reduce it to 60 gm and add 5 gm of citric or tartaric powder	70gm
8	Asfoetida heeng	3 gm
9	Black salt	80 gm
10	Peepal or long cloves	8 pieces
11	Roasted saunf anise	35 gm
12	Ajwain	9 gm
13	Black peppercorn	30gm
14	Dried ginger	5gm

Garam Masala ( Makes about 400 gm)

This is the general-purpose masala and can be added to any savoury dish. It is called garam masala because it heats up ( perks up) the digestive system. Use with caution in hot climate !

	Ingredients	Amount
1	Cumin jeera	90gm
2	Black pepper	75gm
3	Black peppercorn Doda	75 gm
4	Green cardamom Hari ilayachi	45gm
5	Corriander seeds sabut dhania	30 gms
6	Fennel seeds moti saunf	30gm
7	Cloves lavang	20gm
8	Cinnamon dalchini	20inches
9	Mace javitri	20gm
10	Shah jeera black cumin seeds	20gm
11	Bayleaves tejpatta	15 gm
12	Dry rose petal   optional	15gms
13	Dried ginger saunth	15 gm
14	Nutmeg jaiphal	3 pieces ~12 gms
15	Peepal	2 gm
16

Paani-Patasha masala ( for 1 litre) 

This is a much-loved street food. But one has to be cautious about consuming it from a road side due to the impurities it carries with it. I buy the "patasha" or "poori" and make the filling and the "Paani" at home using this recipe. I prefer to use the tamarind pulp instead of the tartaric powder used in the commercial version that can be harmful to the stomach lining. 

	Ingredients ( for 250 gm of imli)	Amount
1	cloves	2
2	Pippali	2
3	roasted cumin	1 tsp
4	black pepper	1/2 tsp
5	dried ginger juliennes	1/2 tsp
6	red chilli powder	1 tsp
7	pudina powder	50 gm
8	black salt	1/2 tsp
9	Tamarind imli ( seedless)	250 gm ( ??? is this seedless) what if using tamarind paste.

1. Pre-soak the tamarind for a few hours. Extract the pulp. 

2. Grind all masala to a fine paste adding a few teaspoons of water. Dilute the ready masala to a litre. 

Chai Masala ( For 2 cups of tea)

Use 4 tsp of tea leaves ( 9-10 gm of the ctc variety) and add 1/2 tsp of chai masala powder. 

S.no.	Ingredients	Amount
1	Ilaychi green cardamom	40 gm
2	Black pepper	20gm
3	Saunth dried ginger	30gm
4	Cloves lavang	20gm
5	dalchini cinnamon	8 gm
6	Fennel seeds	10gms
7	Dried basil leaves	3 gms
8	Kesar optional to be added after the rest of the masala has been warmed ground and sieved.	5 gm