TASTING SPICES
OUR TOP TIP FOR LEARNING TO USE INDIAN SPICES.
The hardest part of Indian spices is learning how to combine them without using a recipe. Our top tip is to get to know the spices by tasting them raw, and then tasting them raw side-by-side to see how well they blend together before cooking. Not sure how to start? See our step-by-step instructions and tips in the FAQs below.
COMBINING INDIAN SPICES
TOP TIPS
What do you mean by tasting raw spices?
Just that. I mean taking a pinch of a ground, seedy, or dried or fresh leafy spice or herb and tasting it. Put it in your mouth. Chew it. Rub the spice against the roof of your mouth with your tongue. And while tasting, note all the sensations, textures, and aromas. Is it bitter? Sweet? Chewy? Dry? Heavy? Light?
What’s the best technique for tasting raw spices?
The best technique is to lay out the spices in the order in which they appear in a recipe. And then tasting down the line of spices, noting how each taste makes you feel, and how the sequence in which you taste the spices changes the experience of the spice that came before, and the one that comes after. Over time, using this technique alongside recipes will help you to understand why certain spices are used together, in the quantities they are used.
How does tasting raw spices help me cook Indian food?
Home cooks with experience within the Indian regional traditions have very strong relationship to spice because of years of usage. They know what to add, when. The functional impact of spices. How to blend and in what quantities. Without experience, the best way to gain this knowledge is to gain a strong relationship with the spices you are using. Which means tasting them raw.
Should I taste the oils and fats I use, too?
Absolutely. Taste everything. A teaspoon of ghee or mustard oil. A lick of olive oil. Yogurt. Salt. Taste two or three different salts together—a fine pink salt, a white lake salt, and a white sea salt—and notice how different each one tastes and feels in the mouth. By tasting raw ingredients you are building a personal flavour library that you can reference each and every time you cook.
MORE SPICE PROFILES
