Beginners Guide to Spices

In the first of a series of Pakistani food blogs, I’m tackling the tricky topic of spices. With the basic ingredients already in your store cupboard (I get mine from Haqs or Pakeezah in Bradford), I’m hoping you’ll feel better prepared to try future recipes. But this is by no means a spice bible – it’s more of an inventory of my spice cupboard and the techniques I’ve picked up from mum, her best mate and my sister-in-law. What they’ve taught me about Pakistani home cooking is this; it’s not so much about heat as it is about a layering of spices, producing a flavour that’s rich and rounded.

You can’t even think about making a curry sauce (what we call masala) without the basic set of spices: chilli powder, turmeric, ground coriander, coriander seeds, cumin seeds (never ground cumin). Then there’s the whole spices you’ll need to grind your own garam masala (literally, a hot spice blend) which is added just before serving: cloves, black peppercorns, black cardamoms, green cardamoms, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, nutmeg, star anise. Finally, there are optional spices: black mustard seeds, dried pomegranate seeds (anardana), chilli flakes and asafaetida (hing). Obviously there are heaps of other spices and powders too but I wouldn’t know what to do with them. If ever I’ve bought things like fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds, curry leaves and amchoor, it’s because I was following a specific recipe which I haven’t tried again!

Some Kashmiri folk I know use a curry powder they call besar, which includes all the basic spices in a pre-mixed pack. Some make this at home; others bring it back by the kilo in their suitcases from Mirpur. Nobody in my family uses this because you don’t know which spices and in what quantity have gone into the spice blend. Besides, using individual spices gives you more control since you may use different combinations at different times.

BASIC MASALA
Most curries start with a basic masala. This is one of the first things I learnt and I was told that once I’d mastered this, I’d be able to cook most things. Most of us start practically every curry by thinly slicing and frying off a medium onion (white, never red) until golden, and then adding one third to half a bulb of chopped garlic, one inch chopped piece of ginger as well as three or four green chillies. But my mum’s best mate (Aunty R, an amazing cook) says that how you make the masala should be determined by the sort of consistency you’re trying to achieve – a dry one or a curry with lots of dipping sauce. So she uses chopped ingredients for a dry curry but purees the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli before frying in a couple of tablespoons of hot cooking oil, if she wants a richer, thicker sauce.

It was also Aunty R who explained that ground coriander acts as a thickener, therefore it should only be added if you’re after a thick dipping sauce (i.e. add it only if you’ve bothered to puree the onions and omit if you want a dry ‘bhoona’ style curry). Actually, Aunty R omits the onions altogether when she makes masala for vegetables. She says it sweetens the masala unnecessarily so she starts the masala for mixed veg or potato curry just with chopped garlic, ginger and chilli.

Just like Aunty R, I also fry a heaped teaspoon of cumin seeds in cooking oil, until they begin to splutter, before frying the onions etc. Aunty R also adds a teaspoon of mustard seeds (alongside the cumin seeds) if she wants to add a touch of sourness to potatoes, pickle, aubergines.

Once the cumin/mustard seeds have spluttered and the onion mix has browned, it’s time to add the dry spices: half a teaspoon each of turmeric, chilli powder and salt. It’s better to add less chilli and salt at this stage and adjust the seasoning later. Fry off the spices for a few minutes to release the flavours, adding a sprinkling of water as needed to stop the mixture from sticking. Now add a tin of tomatoes or the equivalent in fresh tomatoes (chopped or pureed, depending on the sort of consistency you want). Let this mixture cook down for up to 10 minutes, adding a little water as needed to stop it from sticking. Keep moving it around in the pan all the time. Don’t worry if you add too much water – it’ll dry up soon enough.

Once all the water has been absorbed and the oil has started to separate from the mixture, your masala is ready. If it’s a meat curry you’re preparing, you’ll need to fry it off in the masala to seal it before cooking it through. Or just add chopped veg of your choice. The masala should be thick enough to coat the ingredients well. The meat/veg will release some water of its own, so check accordingly before adding water if you want a runny curry. Once the veg or meat is cooked, sprinkle on half a teaspoon of garam masala and / or chopped coriander leaves. Replace the lid to allow the flavours to infuse.

GARAM MASALA
Garam Masala is traditionally sprinkled onto curry just before serving to infuse it with another layer of warmth and depth. But if it’s added too early, it will alter the colour of the curry from a reddish orange to a mucky brown. I’ve seen women decant the curry into a serving bowl before they’ve sprinkled on the garam masala, like a garnish. Others say you should add either freshly chopped coriander OR garam masala, but never both. But we do!

It’s definitely worth grinding your own garam masala and storing it in a sealed jar or tub. You just can’t give the same aroma to a finished curry with shop bought stuff. Everyone I know has their own particular spice blend. It’s pointless asking mum because she measures spices out in the palm of her hand, and then pounds them herself in a massive pestle and mortar on the kitchen floor. I prefer accurate measurements though, so here’s my sister-in-law’s version. Simply dry roast the following whole spices for a minute or two in a pre-heated heavy cast iron pan. On a medium to high heat, keep stirring the spices and remove as soon as they become aromatic. Roasting them for too long will make them bitter. Now grind the lot (I swear by this) until it resembles a fine powder.

3 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 level tablespoon cloves
1.5 tablespoon black peppercorns
5 whole black cardamoms (seeds and skins)
3 whole green cardamoms (seeds and skins)
3 x 3 inch cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
1 star anise
1 whole nutmeg

MORE SPICE TIPS
• I only ever use whole cumin seeds. If I want to add ground cumin to a potato curry or potato kebabs, then I’ll dry roast and grind a tablespoon everytime. I also prefer to make my own coriander powder. It’s really quick and well worth it.

• My sister-in-law adds one whole black cardamom and four whole black peppercorns to any meat or chicken curry (when she adds the other dry spices). She says they balance out the flavour of the meat.

• The heat and smokiness of whole garam masala works really well with basmati rice. Before adding uncooked rice and water, fry the whole garam masala spices (leave out the nutmeg) in a little hot oil to release their flavours.

• Asafaetida (we call it hing) is used purely as a digestive aid rather than a flavouring. Don’t be put off by its pungent smell because it mellows and smells more like roasted garlic on cooking and leaves no discernible flavour. Besides, you should never use more than a pinch. Since it’s great for combatting flatulence, it’s routinely added (at the beginning of cooking, when cumin seeds are fried in hot oil) to ‘windy’ foods such as cauliflower, spinach and certain types of lentils. Incidentally, we also tend to add extra ginger when cooking these.

• Chilli flakes offer a gentle kick when sprinkled on anything other than curry – omelette, roast vegetables, pasta sauces, stir fries.

• I don’t suppose sour dried pomegranate seeds count as a spice. They should always be coarsely ground before use. I still remember my cousin adding them to potato parathas from my childhood days. Mum loves adding them to dry (bhoona style) potato curries and also to her legendary chicken kebabs.

Coming up next time, my Beginners Guide to Daal. So if you’ve got a question about making the perfect daal, please share it in the comment box below and I’ll put your questions to mum, Aunty R and my sister-in-law before I write the next blog. I’d also love to hear your techniques for using spices. If you enjoyed this blog, you may also like the Beginners Guide to Kebabs.

Irna Qureshi blogs about being British, Pakistani, Muslim and female in Bradford.