5 Essential Spices Need For Flourishing Recipes

Indian food is a delicious mix for the senses: tantalizing aromas, vibrant colors, and of course those spicy, sweet, tangy flavors. But for the home cook, this cuisine can be daunting. When you look at what’s needed to cook most Indian recipes, it’s easy to be put off by the long list of spices required. And once you’ve stocked up on the essentials, you’re ready to jump right in and cook fragrant, aromatic dishes with all the subtle, lingering, deep flavors of great Indian food. Here are the nine essential Indian spices you’ll need: 1. Cumin Many Indian curries call for this strong, aromatic spice. You can find it as seeds or toasted and ground. As for its flavor, people often describe it as “warm and earthy” as well as “slightly bitter.” Like most Indian spices, it plays well with others. 2. Cardamom Cardamom is a “less is more” spice: Use with caution, or it can mask milder flavors in your dish. This is one spice you should keep in the freezer—it loses freshness quickly. Alternatively, you can buy whole pods (as above) and grind them when a recipe calls for cardamom. Chai, curries, and rice dishes all get a flavor boost from cardamom. 3. Mustard seeds Mustard flavoring appears in cuisines around the world. Black mustard seeds are stronger in flavor than the yellow or white ones, which are used to make the yellow mustard that’s stocked in many American fridges. There’s also a brown mustard seed. For Indian meals, toss the seeds in a little hot oil until they pop and split, releasing their peppery, rich flavor. Use the oil, with the popped seeds, to flavor soups and vegetables. Put mustard seeds in a tightly sealed container and store them in a dark, cool, dry place.

4. Spicy red chile pepper Various chile peppers rack up the heat in curries; you can adjust quantities to taste. Cayenne pepper (pictured above) is one type of chile pepper that’s easily sourced in supermarkets, but you can also use fresh red chile peppers if you prefer. 5. Turmeric This vivid yellow spice gives many Indian dishes their characteristic color.  A relative of ginger, the spice is known for its anti-inflammatory properties as well as its valuable work as a flavor and color additive in curries.