| Name | Description |
| Akwain | Ajwain is very common in Asia and its use is starting to spread around the world. It is the small seed-like fruit of the Bishops Weed plant and is egg-shaped and greyish in colour. The plant has a similarity to parsley. Because of their seed-like appearance, the fruit pods are sometimes called Ajwain seeds or bishops weed seeds. This spice is often confused with lovage seed.
Raw Ajwain smells very much like thyme because it also contains thymol, but is more aromatic and less subtle in taste, as well as slightly bitter and pungent. It tastes like thyme or caraway, only stronger. Even a small amount of raw Ajwain will completely dominate the flavour of a dish.
In Indian cuisine, Ajwain is almost never used raw, but either dry-roasted or fried in ghee or oil. This develops a much more subtle and complex aroma, somewhat similar to caraway. |
| Allspice | Allspice, which is also called Jamaica pepper, Myrtle pepper, pimento, or newspice, is a spice which is the dried unripe fruit of the Pimenta dioica plant. The name allspice was coined by the English, who thought it combined the favour of several aromatic spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
Allspice is one of the most important ingredients of Caribbean cuisine. It is used in Caribbean jerk seasoning, in mole sauces and in pickling. It is also an ingredient in commercial sausage preparations and curry powders. Allspice is also indispensable in Middle Eastern cuisine, particularly in the Levant where it is used to flavour a variety of stews and meat dishes. In Palestinian cuisine, for example, many main dishes call for allspice as the sole spice added for flavouring. |
| Anise | Anise is a plant that originated in the Middle East and is now widely grown in Europe, Asia and North America. Another name for anise is aniseed. The seeds and leaves have the taste and aroma of sweet liquorice and Indian anise has a slightly bitter taste. In India, anise is used mainly with breads and savoury dishes. The seeds are dry roasted and added to fish and vegetarian dishes. |
| Asafoetida | Asafoetida is a species of Ferula native to Iran. It is an herbaceous perennial plant growing to 2 m tall. The resin-like gum which comes from the dried sap extracted from the stem and roots is used as a spice. The Asafoetida resin is difficult to grate, and is traditionally crushed between stones or with a hammer. This spice is used as a digestive aid, in food as a condiment and in pickles. Its odor is so strong that it must be stored in airtight containers; otherwise the aroma, which is nauseating in quantities, will contaminate other spices stored nearby. |
| Caraway | The Caraway plant is similar in appearance to a carrot plant, with finely divided, feathery leaves with thread-like divisions, growing on 20-30 cm stems. The fruits, usually used whole, have a pungent, anise-like flavour and aroma that come from essential oils, mostly carvone and limonene. They are used as a spice in breads especially rye bread, which is denser because of the yeast-killing properties of the essential oil, limonene
Caraway is also used in liquors, casseroles, and other foods, especially in Central European and Scandinavian cuisine, for instance sauerkraut. It is also used to add flavour to cheeses. Akvavit and several liqueurs are also made with caraway, and a tea made from the seeds is good for colic. Caraway seed oil is also used as a fragrance component in soaps, lotions, and perfumes. |
| Cardamom | An aromatic spice indigenous to south India and Sri Lanka, cardamom seeds come from a plant belonging to the ginger family. Theyre contained in small pods about the size of a cranberry.
Cardamom pods are usually green in colour, but theyre sometimes bleached white, although the flavour remains the same. You may also come across brown or black cardamom, which are slightly larger and have a different flavour and aroma. They add a smoky note to cooked foods and are more frequently used with meat than with vegetable dishes. Cardamom has a wonderful aroma and an enticing warm, spicy-sweet flavour. Its widely used in Indian cooking and in Scandinavian baking.
Cardamom can be bought in the pod, as seeds or ground but, as the ground seeds soon lose their flavour, its preferable to use the pods, either removing the seeds and grinding them or grinding the whole pod - quickly done with a pestle and mortar. If youre using cardamom to flavour dishes such as stews and curries, lightly crush the whole pod and add it to the mixture: the shell can be removed after cooking. Cardamom also has an affinity with chocolate. A little cardamom goes a long way, though, so use it sparingly. |
| Cassia | Cassia is a spice that is often confused with cinnamon. In fact, the source, properties and tastes of cassia and cinnamon are very similar except that cassia has a more intense smell because of the higher level of volatile oil in cassia. Cassia is made from the bark of a tree. It is hard and woody, compared to cinnamon. Whereas cinnamon is fine and crumbly, cassia is coarser and stronger. This difference is easy to spot when buying the “sticks” but is more difficult when buying powdered spice – grinding cinnamon in a coffee grinder is easy but cassia is a lot tougher. To further blur the distinction between the two spices, cassia is often labelled and sold as cinnamon. |
| Cinnamon | Cinnamon is sold dry as sticks and as a powder. You can try to grind your own cinnamon from the bark but its difficult to get it fine enough. Its best to buy ground cinnamon in small quantities because the freshness and flavour quickly disappear.
The warm, sweet flavour of cinnamon is an essential ingredient in many sweet dishes, but its also used in savoury dishes. Its gorgeous in baked goods, used to flavour buns, cakes, sweet pastries and puddings. Baked apples or apple pies wouldnt be the same without the flavour of cinnamon.
Mexicans used cinnamon to flavour chocolate in cooking and in drinks. Cinnamon bark is used to flavour meat, poultry and vegetable stews and it can be added to spicy marinades or to spice up rice dishes. |
| Cloves | Cloves have a warm aroma and a hot and bitter taste. Cloves are very strong spices and should be used sparingly because they can easily drown out the taste of other spices. In Indian cooking, cloves are a basic ingredient of garam masala and are often used in curry powders. |
| Coriander | Coriander, also commonly called cilantro, is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. Coriander is native to south-western Asia west to North Africa. All parts of the plant are edible, but the fresh leaves and the dried seeds are the most commonly used in cooking.
The dry fruits are known as coriander seeds or coriandi seeds. In some regions, the use of the word coriander in food preparation always refers to these seeds (as a spice), rather than to the plant itself. The seeds have a lemony citrus flavour when crushed, due to the presence of the terpenes linalool and pinene. It is also described as warm, nutty, spicy, and orange-flavoured. They are usually dried but can be eaten green.
If the fruit is obtained in its natural form, it can later be dried in the sun. Most commonly, it is bought as whole dried seeds, but it can also be found as a powder. When grinding at home, it can be roasted or heated on a dry pan briefly to enhance the aroma before grinding it in an electric grinder or with a mortar and pestle; ground coriander seeds lose their flavour quickly in storage and are best only ground as needed. For optimum flavour, whole coriander seed should be used within six months, or stored for no more than a year in a tightly sealed container away from sunlight and heat.
Coriander seed is a key spice in Garam masala and Indian curries, which often employ the ground fruits in generous amounts together with cumin. It also acts as a thickener. Roasted coriander seeds, called dhana dal, are also eaten as a snack. It is also the main ingredient of the two south Indian gravies: sambhar and rasam. |
| Cumin | The small, crescent-shaped seeds of a plant called Cumin cymene, which are used as a spice. It has a warm flavour and quite a strong, pungent aroma.
Cumin seeds can be used whole or ground into a powder. Theyre frequently used in Indian cooking and are a regular component of curry powder, as well as being used in the Indian spice mix Garam Masala.
Cumin is also used in Mexican cooking. In Europe, its used to flavour some cheeses and is sometimes used in baking. Theres also a smaller, darker variety of cumin, called black cumin, which is usually used whole in dishes, where it adds a smoky note.
For the best results buy fresh cumin seeds and grind them yourself after dry roasting them lightly. Replace your stock frequently for like other dried spices, cumin quickly loses its pungency. |
| Curry Leaf | The Curry Tree or Curry-leaf Tree is a tropical to sub-tropical tree in the family Rutaceae, it is native to India.
A small tree, growing 4-6 m tall, with a trunk up to 40 cm diameter. The leaves are pinnate, with 11-21 leaflets, each leaflet 2-4 cm long and 1-2 cm broad. The flowers are small white, and fragrant. The small black, shiny berries are claimed to be edible, but their seeds are poisonous.
Its leaves are highly aromatic and are used as a herb or spice. Their form is small and narrow and somewhat resemble the leaves of the Neem tree; therefore they are also referred to as Kari Bevu, translated to Black Neem, in the Kannada language and "Karivepaku" in Telugu again translating to the same meaning. In Tamil and Malayalam it is known as Karuveppilai, ilai meaning leaves. Other names include Kari Patta (Hindi) and Karapincha (Sinhalese).
They are commonly used as seasoning in Indian and Sri Lankan cooking, much like bay leaves and especially in curries with fish or coconut milk. In their fresh form they have a short shelf life and may be stored in a freezer for up to a week; they are also available dried, although the aroma is clearly inferior. |
| Curry Powder | Packaged curry powder is probably a British invention. Hoping to recreate the dishes they had enjoyed in India the British probably took back with them some Indian spice mixtures.
Indian cooks dont use one single spice mixture to flavour all of their dishes. Each dish will be flavoured with a different mixture of spices, called a Masala, which varies from dish to dish and even region to region.
The curry powder that you can buy in the UK is usually a mixture of turmeric, chilli powder, coriander, cumin, ginger and pepper, and can be bought in mild, medium or hot strengths. |
| Fennel | Fennel is an aromatic spice that is used to give a slightly sweet flavour to foods. Fennel has an anise aroma and taste, although it is stronger than anise. Fennel is used to make garam masala and five spice powder. |
| Fenugreek | Fenugreek, also called Methi, is a crop plant grown as a potherb and for the spice made from its seeds. The fenugreek plant grows wild from the eastern Mediterranean area to China; it is cultivated worldwide.
Fenugreek is used both as an herb (the leaves) and as a spice (the seed). The yellow, rhombic fenugreek seed is frequently used in the preparation of pickles, curry powders and pastes, and is often encountered in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent and Thailand. The young leaves and sprouts of fenugreek are eaten as greens and the fresh or dried leaves are used to flavour other dishes. The dried leaves have a bitter taste and a strong characteristic smell which means they need to be used sparingly.
Fenugreek seed is widely used as a galactagogue (milk producing agent) by nursing mothers to increase inadequate breast milk supply. It has also been used to increase breast size. It can be found in capsule form in many health food stores.
In India it is mixed with yogurt and used as a conditioner for hair. It is also one of the ingredients in the making of injera/taita, a type of bread unique to Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine. The word for fenugreek in Amharic is abesh, which is also often used as a natural herbal medicine in the treatment of diabetes. It is also sometimes used as an ingredient in the production of clarified butter, which is similar to Indian ghee. In Turkey, fenugreek gives its name, "çemen", to a hot paste used in pastirma. |
| Garam Masala | An aromatic mixture of ground spices used as a base for many Indian dishes (Masala means spice). The proportion of spices changes according to the dish being cooked but the basic ingredients are cumin, coriander, cardamom, black pepper and cinnamon.
The mixture can include other spices (such as caraway, nutmeg or bay leaves), depending on whether the dish includes meat, vegetables or fish. Its usually added towards the end of cooking. |
| Ginger | A spice that comes from the rhizome (a thick underground stem) of the Zingiber officinale plant. Ginger can be used fresh (often called root ginger or ginger root) or dried and ground to a powder. Ginger adds a touch of heat to both sweet and savoury dishes and is used in cuisines throughout Asia and Europe.
In South-east Asia and the Indian subcontinent, fresh ginger is frequently added to curry pastes and its often cooked with fish dishes in China. In Europe, dried ginger is more frequently used in baking, as in the classic parkin of northern England. It can also be used in drinks, as in ginger tea and ginger beer, and can be preserved in sweet syrup (known as stem ginger).
Ground ginger should be replaced frequently because, like other dried spices, it quickly loses its pungency when ground. When buying fresh ginger, look for plump rhizomes that are not wrinkled and store in the fridge. |
| Methi | Fenugreek leaves. |
| Mustard | Black mustard is a plant of the family Brassicaceae. Its distribution is probably now in temperate regions, world wide; it is widely cultivated for its seeds. Black mustard has small hard seeds that are about 1 mm in diameter and are very flavourful, although they have almost no aroma. The seeds have a significant amount of fatty oil. This oil is used often for cooking in India.
The seeds are commonly used in Indian cuisine, for example in curry. The seeds are usually thrown into hot oil or ghee after which they pop, releasing a characteristic nutty flavour. The seeds have a significant amount of fatty oil. This oil is used often as cooking oil in India. |
| Nigella | Nigella is a genus of about 14 species of annual plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native to southern Europe, north Africa and southwest Asia. Common names applied to members of this genus are Devil-in-a-bush or Love in the mist.
The species grow to 20-90 cm tall, with finely divided leaves, the leaf segments narrowly linear to threadlike. The flowers are white, yellow, pink, pale blue or pale purple, with 5-10 petals. The fruit is a capsule composed of several united follicles, each containing numerous seeds; in some species (e.g. Nigella damascena), the capsule is large and inflated. Spread some in your yard, and it will reseed itself every year.
The seeds of N. sativa, known as kalonji, black cumin or just nigella, are used as a spice in Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine. The black seeds taste mostly like oregano crossed with pepper. Most people use it as a "pepper" in recipes with pod fruit, vegetables, salads and poultry. Several species are grown as ornamental plants in gardens, popular for their seed capsules, which are used in dried flower arrangements. |
| Nigella Sativa | Nigella sativa is an annual flowering plant, native to southwest Asia. It grows to 20-30 cm tall, with finely divided, linear (but not thread-like) leaves. The flowers are delicate, and usually coloured pale blue and white, with 5-10 petals. The fruit is a large and inflated capsule composed of 3-7 united follicles, each containing numerous seeds. The seed is used as a spice.
Nigella sativa has a pungent bitter taste and a faint smell of strawberries. It is used primarily in candies and liquors. The variety of naan bread called Peshawari naan is as a rule topped with kalonji seeds. In herbal medicine, Nigella sativa has hypertensive, carminative, and anthelminthic properties.
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| Nutmeg | The nutmegs Myristica are a genus of evergreen trees indigenous to tropical southeast Asia and Australasia. They are important for two spices derived from the fruit, nutmeg and mace.
Nutmeg is the actual seed of the tree, roughly egg-shaped and about 20-30 mm long and 15-18 mm wide, while mace is the dried "lacy" reddish covering or arillus of the seed.
Several other commercial products are also produced from the trees, including essential oils, extracted oleoresins, and nutmeg butter (see below).
The most important species commercially is the Common or Fragrant Nutmeg Myristica fragrans, native to the Banda Islands of Indonesia; it is also grown in the Caribbean, especially in Grenada. Other species include Papuan Nutmeg M. argentea from New Guinea, and Bombay Nutmeg M. malabarica from India; both are used as adulterants of M. fragrans products. |
| Paprika | Paprika is a spice made from the grinding of dried sweet red bell peppers. In many European countries the name paprika also refers to bell peppers themselves. The seasoning is used in many cuisines to add colour and flavour to dishes.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word comes from the Hungarian "paprika", which derives from the Serbian "paprena", which means "the one that is hot" and it is derived from Serbian papar "pepper" which in turn was borrowed from the Latin "piper", for "pepper." |
| Pepper | Black pepper comes from a climbing vine. The fruits of this vine ripen from green to red and finally to brown. Black peppercorns are actually berries that are picked when theyre just turning red. Theyre then dried whole before being sold. Peppercorns can be green, white or black, depending on when theyre harvested.
Peppercorns can be used whole, or crushed or ground to add heat and flavour to cooking. Used whole, they can be added loose to stews and soups or used as part of a bouquet garni.
Freshly ground peppercorns have much more flavour than ready-ground pepper, so buy fresh whole peppercorns and invest in a pepper grinder. Freshly ground or crushed black pepper adds a flavour of its own to dishes, as well as enhancing the taste of other ingredients. Lightly crushed or cracked peppercorns can be used to spice up creamy sauces or to coat fillet steaks or chicken breasts.
The light crushing releases the fragrant spiciness; using ground pepper in this way would just release too much heat. Try grinding fresh black pepper over a bowl of strawberries and see how it enhances the flavour of the fruit, releasing a very subtle pepper flavour. |
| Saffron | The most expensive spice in the world fortunately goes a long way! Its derived from the stigmas of the saffron crocus, which can only be picked by hand. It takes 250,000 stigmas to make just half a kilo of saffron.
Saffron can be bought whole in threads or strands, which should be crushed just before using, or in powdered form. Spanish and Kashmiri saffron are reputed to be among the best quality.
The saffron crocus thrives in climates similar to that of the Mediterranean maquis or the North American chaparral, where hot, dry summer breezes blow across arid and semi-arid lands. Nevertheless, the plant can tolerate cold winters, surviving frosts as cold as ?10 °C and short periods of snow cover
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| Turmeric | Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae which is native to tropical South Asia. It needs temperatures between 20 and 30 deg. C. and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive. Plants are gathered annually for their rhizomes, and re-seeded from some of those rhizomes in the following season.
Its rhizomes are boiled for several hours and then dried in hot ovens, after which they are ground into a deep orange-yellow powder commonly used as a spice in curries and other South Asian cuisine, for dyeing, and to impart colour to mustard condiments. Its active ingredient is curcumin and it has an earthy, bitter, peppery flavour and has a mustardy smell.
Turmeric also gives chutneys and pickles (such as piccalilli) their distinctive yellow tinge. It has a slight peppery aroma and a musky taste and is sometimes substituted for the more expensive saffron because it produces the same bright yellow colour, but it has a very different flavour. |