The magic ingredients

This is a must Spice box in every Indian kitchen. The spice combinations enhances the taste, textures and aromas of dishes. Here are some common spices used in kitchens.

• Coriander powder : Made from the Coriander seeds.The seeds are slightly roasted and ground into a fine powder. It is called Dhania powder

• Turmeric powder: Made from Dry Turmeric. It is first dried in sun for an hour or more, and then ground to make a fine powder. This powder is also used for medicinal purpose.This is called Haldi powder

• Red Chilli powder: Made from Dry red chillies. They are slightly roasted and ground into a fine powder. In India, Many variety of red chillies are found which are different in their level of "intensity". It is called  lal mirch powder.

• Dry Mango powder: The raw mangoes are dried in sun for 2-3 days and then ground into fine powder. This powder is called  Aamchoor

• Cumin seeds: An essential ingredient for most dishes. Cumin seeds are used in many ways in India. They are roasted and ground into fine powder to make Roasted cumin powder. This powder is used in curd smoothies (Raita) for flavouring it, in chats, dry vegetable dishes and in curries too. Even for salad dressing and Indian special drink "Lassi/Mattha" , this is used very oftenly. 

• Asafeotida: The digestive ingredient added in almost all the Indian dishes. It has a very strong smell and is used for digestive purpose. It is called Hing

Fenugreek seeds: These seeds are used basically for digestive and flavoring purpose. Especially used in dishes like kadhi and aloo ki subji. These seeds are also used for fermenting the rice and lentil batter for making dishes like dosa, idli and uttapam. It is also called as Methi Danna




Carrom seeds: These are the digestive medicine seeds. It has a very strong aroma and flavour. Used in many dry vegetables and curry dishes, it enriches the taste of the dish. They are called Ajwain








 Green Cardamom :This Dry spice is mostly used as a mouth fresher and also as medicine for digestion. The aroma of this spice is very strong and is thus added to beverages like Tea, smoothies and dishes for enhancing there flavour . The seeds of cardamom are used as it is or is grounded into fine powder. It is called Ilaechi

Black cardamom: Another variety of cardamom which is mostly used in preparation of spice powders like Chai masala, garam masala , chole masala etc....It is sometimes used as a whole for highly aromatic dishes like " Biryani". It is called badi illaechi

Cinnamon stick: This is the inner bark of the cinnamon tree which in biological term is called Cinnamomum. This spice is very sweet in its aroma and is specially combined with other aromatic herbs and spices to make Masala of different flavours. It is sometimes used as a whole or grounded to get a fine powder for many sweet dishes like "Apple pie", Pineapple cake and Apple pudding.It is called Daalchini








Mustard seeds:

In Indian cuisine , use of mustard seeds had become an integral part of cooking. Be it Tempering(tadka) on lentils or vegetables, grounded nicely for flavoring and fermenting pickles and special drink like Kanji or roasted nicely for making special spice powder, mustard seeds have their variations.  These seeds are available in black and brown colour. Sauce of mustard seeds is mostly used in for salad dressings and sandwiches. They are called sarson/rai  in Hindi.