Exotic Cuisine

by The Oxford Chronicle

Easy Click Category - Flavorings

May 4th, 2008 by Chaashni Mahmoud

Most of the spices used in Mughlai cooking can be found in American supermarkets.  If you can, it is best to buy spices whole, as they tend to hold onto their flavor for longer periods.  They can then be ground at home in a coffee grinder, reserved for this purpose, and then stored in tightly covered containers.  A mortar an pestle can be used to crush spices, but it will not ground them finely.  

Enclosed are a few of my favorites, you can find a more exhaustive list of commonly used spices under Glossary (A-L) and Glossary (M-Z)

Amchoor - Unripe green mangoes are dried and powdered to make amchoor powder, a tart pale beige to brownish powder used in dishes where acidity is required.  Amchoor is used to add a sour tangy fruity flavor without moisture in northern Indian dishes as freely as lemon is in American cooking.  Used in stir fried vegetable dishes, soups, curries and to tenderize meat and poultry.

Asafetida - A large fennel-like plant that grows mainly in Iran and India.  The powdered gum resin of the asafetida imparts a very strong onion-garlic flavor and is used in small quantities to Indian dishes.  The taste is bitter and acrid; however, when fried lightly, it adds wonderful aroma and taste.  In the spring, when the plant is about to bloom, the stems and roots are cut, and the milky resin is scraped off. The gummy resin is sun-dried into a solid mass that is sold in solid, wax-like pieces.

Cardamom - Two varieties are available in America: the green-ish pod and the slightly plumper whitish pod.  The seeds in the green-ish pod are generally more fragrant. The cardamom pod is sometimes used whole, and at other times the skin is discarded and the seeds are ground.  There is also a large black cardamom, hard to find in America, which is used for certain rice and meat dishes.  When this is unavailable, either variety of the smaller cardamom can be substituted.

Fenugreek - fenugreek seeds are yellow in color and rather flat.  Since the taste borders on bitterness, very few are used at a time.  They are excellent with eggplant and potatoes.

Garam Masala

Kalonji - These are black onion seeds which are used occasionally meat dishes and more often for vegetables.  If you can't find them, leave them out of the recipe.

Tamarind Paste - The tamarind is a kind of bean, which grows on large trees.  For commercial use it is peeled, seeded, and pressed into a lump.  Use it to add a special tartness to food.  Lump tamarind should be wrapped in a plastic bag and stored in the refrigerator where it will last for months.

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