whole spices Archives - falafelandcaviar.com Thu, 10 Mar 2022 09:11:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 Is Grinding Your Own Spices Worth It? https://falafelandcaviar.com/is-grinding-your-own-spices-worth-it/ Fri, 11 Mar 2022 08:20:00 +0000 https://falafelandcaviar.com/?p=16301 When we look in our spice drawers at all the little bottles of powder, we often don’t think about where each spice actually comes from and what it looks like pre-ground. But buying spices whole and grinding them yourself can unlock major flavor potential that you can’t really get with a powder that’s been sitting […]

The post Is Grinding Your Own Spices Worth It? appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

]]> When we look in our spice drawers at all the little bottles of powder, we often don’t think about where each spice actually comes from and what it looks like pre-ground. But buying spices whole and grinding them yourself can unlock major flavor potential that you can’t really get with a powder that’s been sitting in your cabinet for 3 years. At the same time, buying whole can be expensive, and grinding at home is time and energy-consuming. So, is grinding spices yourself worthwhile?

You may have noticed that in coffee shops, coffee is ground fresh because it’s at its most flavorful the moment it’s ground. The same is true for spices. As soon as you grind them, they begin to lose flavor. So if your main priority is maximum flavor, then it may indeed be worth it to buy your spices whole and a grinder or mortar and pestle to grind at home. You’ll need to add far less of a fresh-ground spice to a dish than pre-ground for the same potency.

At the same time, grinding your spice with a mortar and pestle takes a lot of effort. Even grinding all your spices in a blade grinder can add time and steps to your recipe. That’s fine if you have time, but if you’re just cooking yourself dinner after a long day then you probably want to maximize convenience—your dish will still taste great if you add the right amount of pre-ground spices.

All in all, it’s probably a good idea to have whole versions of your favorite spices in the cupboard to fresh-grind when you have time or want to really highlight a certain flavor. But fresh-grinding everything every time isn’t necessarily plausible, and that’s okay.

The post Is Grinding Your Own Spices Worth It? appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

]]> How to Get the Most Out of Your Spices in Indian Food https://falafelandcaviar.com/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-your-spices-in-indian-food/ Tue, 05 Oct 2021 08:54:00 +0000 https://falafelandcaviar.com/?p=16381 Spices are absolutely essential to any Indian dish, and Indian food has a diverse range of spice profiles across dishes and regions. If you cook a lot of Indian cuisine, then you probably go through your spices somewhat quickly. There’s no way to really avoid this, and of course spices are meant to be used—there’s […]

The post How to Get the Most Out of Your Spices in Indian Food appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

]]> Spices are absolutely essential to any Indian dish, and Indian food has a diverse range of spice profiles across dishes and regions. If you cook a lot of Indian cuisine, then you probably go through your spices somewhat quickly. There’s no way to really avoid this, and of course spices are meant to be used—there’s nothing wrong with having to restock often. But here’s how to help your spices go as far as they can.

Marinate the Protein

Whether you’re using tofu, fish, or chicken, marinating it beforehand will make a huge difference. You can use whole spices (combined with plain yogurt or some other liquid) if you have them on hand and leave your protein in the fridge for at least a few hours. This way it will soak up a ton of flavor on its own and you won’t need to worry too much about getting it flavored during cooking.

Toast Your Spices

One step which may seem trivial is toasting your spices before you add any liquid or water-emitting vegetables. You’ll usually do it after sautéing your onions and garlic-ginger paste. Simply sprinkle on your desired spices and mix up with the onions, allowing to toast for around 30 seconds before adding the next ingredient. This will help really bring out the flavors in the spices and make your kitchen smell great.

Add in the Marinade

In many cases, adding in a bit of the marinade to your curry or broth will add a ton of flavor as well. Just be sure to get it up to boiling to kill off any trace of the raw meat you marinated, if you used meat. If this is something you’d like to try, you may want to use powdered spices for your marinade rather than whole so that you don’t end up with whole spices in your finished dish.

The post How to Get the Most Out of Your Spices in Indian Food appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

]]> You Have to Try these Underutilized Spices https://falafelandcaviar.com/you-have-to-try-these-underutilized-spices/ Fri, 16 Aug 2019 12:42:45 +0000 https://falafelandcaviar.com/?p=10748 When you think of culinary spices, what immediately comes to mind? You probably think of common ingredients such as garlic, black pepper, and oregano, but it’s easy to forget that there is a whole world of spices out there to bring life to your dishes in the kitchen. Here is a collection of underutilized culinary […]

The post You Have to Try these Underutilized Spices appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

]]> When you think of culinary spices, what immediately comes to mind? You probably think of common ingredients such as garlic, black pepper, and oregano, but it’s easy to forget that there is a whole world of spices out there to bring life to your dishes in the kitchen.

Here is a collection of underutilized culinary spices that don’t get enough love, but that can turn your food from drab to fabulous.

Paprika

If you aren’t Spanish, Hungarian, or Portuguese, chances are that you don’t often use paprika. The reality, however, is that paprika is a fantastically fragrant and flavorful spice that can be used in barbecue rubs and to add a dash of flavor to fish and meat. Smoked, mild, and hot paprika all have their own uses and can brighten up all kinds of dishes.

Tarragon

Oui, oui, pass me the tarragon! Popular in French cooking, this delicate herb packs a punch. Don’t use too much when you’re cooking, but if you know how to moderate its use, you’ll find that tarragon adds a wonderful bittersweet component to tomato and vinegar sauces as well as oven-baked fish.

Cumin

A favorite in Mexican, Indian, and Middle Eastern cooking, cumin adds a savory, smoky flavor to dishes in small doses. If you like to add a little bit of spice and excitement to your dishes but you aren’t a big fan of spiciness, cumin is a great compromise.

View this post on Instagram

😍 Easy delicious keto meatsauce! 😍 🇸🇪 Lite längre ner…. Ground beef (I´m not fond of ground pork, but you choose), butter, onion, broth, tomatoes, salt, blackpepper, cream, lots of cumin and fresh basil. Cumin is SO nice in this super easy meatsauce. 🇸🇪 Nötfärs (jag har skippat blandfärsen, men välj vad du tycker bäst om), smör, lök, oxbuljong, grädde, krossade tomater, salt, svartpeppar, rejält med spiskummin och i med färsk basilika. Lätt som en plätt och väldigt gott tack vare spiskumminen. #intermittentfasting #ketosis #keto #ketodiet #ketogenic #cleaneating #lowcarb #lowcarbhighfat #lchf #fitfam #fitspo #health #healthy #weightloss #weightlossjourney #fitness #workout #glutenfree #sugarfree #cumin #carnivore #meatsauce #ketorecipe #lågkolhydratkost #lavkarbo #wellness #homemade #primal #fatfueled

A post shared by 🇸🇪Monika🇸🇪 (@lchf_med_vikingafrun) on

The post You Have to Try these Underutilized Spices appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

]]> Why You Should Buy Your Spices Whole https://falafelandcaviar.com/why-you-should-buy-your-spices-whole/ Sat, 09 Mar 2019 11:09:00 +0000 https://falafelandcaviar.com/?p=6128 Every ground spice starts off as something whole. While it’s easier to just buy the ground version, there are a lot of benefits to buying your spices whole and grinding them yourself. Although it’s a more arduous task, if you want the best flavor possible, start buying your spices whole. Quality Often, if you buy […]

The post Why You Should Buy Your Spices Whole appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

]]> Every ground spice starts off as something whole. While it’s easier to just buy the ground version, there are a lot of benefits to buying your spices whole and grinding them yourself. Although it’s a more arduous task, if you want the best flavor possible, start buying your spices whole.

View this post on Instagram

Garam Masala. . In my opinion, Garam masala doesn't need a lengthy introduction. Anyone who has looked up Indian curries must have seen Garam masala listed under ingredients. This aromatic spice blend is a must have in about 90% of Indian curries. It adds such a complex layer of heat, flavour and aroma to our curries. . Now, what is Garam Masala? Most people are used to buying them already powdered, in little bottles or packets. Just like the flavours of Indian cuisine varies from one state to another the number and type of spices used in garam masala varies. For example, North Indian garam masala is very different from its South Indian counterpart. . Here are the spices my mother use to make garam masala. Javitri or mace, cinnamon, star anise, green cardamom, fennel seeds, poppy seeds, cloves, peppercorns and cumin. At my home, we always try to make everything from scratch, especially spice blends and spice powders. That way you get better quality blends for much cheaper price. . . #garammasala #southindianmasala #indianspices #wholespices #cardamom #cinnamon #staranise #cumin #fennel #hautecuisines #foodfluffer #thefeedfeed #foodphotography #darkfoodphotography #stilllifephotography #foodstyling #flatlaytoday #foodartblog #exceptionalstilllife #still_life_gallery #gs_stilllife #currypowder #curry #instagram

A post shared by Gitanjali | Food Photographer (@cuisineceleste) on

Quality

https://www.instagram.com/p/Brsn_F5j5Dh/

Often, if you buy your spices whole, you will be getting a better quality spice because it’s the whole product. This is especially the case if you buy your spices from ethnic stores, because they get them from countries that have the best quality products.

Freshness

With ground spices, you never know how long they’ve been sitting in a warehouse before they got shipped to the grocery store. Therefore, buying them whole and grinding them yourself will ensure that you’re getting the freshest spice possible. And with freshness comes better flavor.

Different Uses

While there are recipes that call for ground spices, a lot of different dishes need whole spices. Whether you’re pickling, making a curry paste, or a Cajun boil, there are a lot of ways to use whole spices as they are.

The post Why You Should Buy Your Spices Whole appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

]]> ersion="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> whole spices Archives - falafelandcaviar.com Thu, 10 Mar 2022 09:11:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 Is Grinding Your Own Spices Worth It? https://falafelandcaviar.com/is-grinding-your-own-spices-worth-it/ Fri, 11 Mar 2022 08:20:00 +0000 https://falafelandcaviar.com/?p=16301 When we look in our spice drawers at all the little bottles of powder, we often don’t think about where each spice actually comes from and what it looks like pre-ground. But buying spices whole and grinding them yourself can unlock major flavor potential that you can’t really get with a powder that’s been sitting […]

The post Is Grinding Your Own Spices Worth It? appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

]]> When we look in our spice drawers at all the little bottles of powder, we often don’t think about where each spice actually comes from and what it looks like pre-ground. But buying spices whole and grinding them yourself can unlock major flavor potential that you can’t really get with a powder that’s been sitting in your cabinet for 3 years. At the same time, buying whole can be expensive, and grinding at home is time and energy-consuming. So, is grinding spices yourself worthwhile?

You may have noticed that in coffee shops, coffee is ground fresh because it’s at its most flavorful the moment it’s ground. The same is true for spices. As soon as you grind them, they begin to lose flavor. So if your main priority is maximum flavor, then it may indeed be worth it to buy your spices whole and a grinder or mortar and pestle to grind at home. You’ll need to add far less of a fresh-ground spice to a dish than pre-ground for the same potency.

At the same time, grinding your spice with a mortar and pestle takes a lot of effort. Even grinding all your spices in a blade grinder can add time and steps to your recipe. That’s fine if you have time, but if you’re just cooking yourself dinner after a long day then you probably want to maximize convenience—your dish will still taste great if you add the right amount of pre-ground spices.

All in all, it’s probably a good idea to have whole versions of your favorite spices in the cupboard to fresh-grind when you have time or want to really highlight a certain flavor. But fresh-grinding everything every time isn’t necessarily plausible, and that’s okay.

The post Is Grinding Your Own Spices Worth It? appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

]]> How to Get the Most Out of Your Spices in Indian Food https://falafelandcaviar.com/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-your-spices-in-indian-food/ Tue, 05 Oct 2021 08:54:00 +0000 https://falafelandcaviar.com/?p=16381 Spices are absolutely essential to any Indian dish, and Indian food has a diverse range of spice profiles across dishes and regions. If you cook a lot of Indian cuisine, then you probably go through your spices somewhat quickly. There’s no way to really avoid this, and of course spices are meant to be used—there’s […]

The post How to Get the Most Out of Your Spices in Indian Food appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

]]> Spices are absolutely essential to any Indian dish, and Indian food has a diverse range of spice profiles across dishes and regions. If you cook a lot of Indian cuisine, then you probably go through your spices somewhat quickly. There’s no way to really avoid this, and of course spices are meant to be used—there’s nothing wrong with having to restock often. But here’s how to help your spices go as far as they can.

Marinate the Protein

Whether you’re using tofu, fish, or chicken, marinating it beforehand will make a huge difference. You can use whole spices (combined with plain yogurt or some other liquid) if you have them on hand and leave your protein in the fridge for at least a few hours. This way it will soak up a ton of flavor on its own and you won’t need to worry too much about getting it flavored during cooking.

Toast Your Spices

One step which may seem trivial is toasting your spices before you add any liquid or water-emitting vegetables. You’ll usually do it after sautéing your onions and garlic-ginger paste. Simply sprinkle on your desired spices and mix up with the onions, allowing to toast for around 30 seconds before adding the next ingredient. This will help really bring out the flavors in the spices and make your kitchen smell great.

Add in the Marinade

In many cases, adding in a bit of the marinade to your curry or broth will add a ton of flavor as well. Just be sure to get it up to boiling to kill off any trace of the raw meat you marinated, if you used meat. If this is something you’d like to try, you may want to use powdered spices for your marinade rather than whole so that you don’t end up with whole spices in your finished dish.

The post How to Get the Most Out of Your Spices in Indian Food appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

]]> You Have to Try these Underutilized Spices https://falafelandcaviar.com/you-have-to-try-these-underutilized-spices/ Fri, 16 Aug 2019 12:42:45 +0000 https://falafelandcaviar.com/?p=10748 When you think of culinary spices, what immediately comes to mind? You probably think of common ingredients such as garlic, black pepper, and oregano, but it’s easy to forget that there is a whole world of spices out there to bring life to your dishes in the kitchen. Here is a collection of underutilized culinary […]

The post You Have to Try these Underutilized Spices appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

]]> When you think of culinary spices, what immediately comes to mind? You probably think of common ingredients such as garlic, black pepper, and oregano, but it’s easy to forget that there is a whole world of spices out there to bring life to your dishes in the kitchen.

Here is a collection of underutilized culinary spices that don’t get enough love, but that can turn your food from drab to fabulous.

Paprika

If you aren’t Spanish, Hungarian, or Portuguese, chances are that you don’t often use paprika. The reality, however, is that paprika is a fantastically fragrant and flavorful spice that can be used in barbecue rubs and to add a dash of flavor to fish and meat. Smoked, mild, and hot paprika all have their own uses and can brighten up all kinds of dishes.

Tarragon

Oui, oui, pass me the tarragon! Popular in French cooking, this delicate herb packs a punch. Don’t use too much when you’re cooking, but if you know how to moderate its use, you’ll find that tarragon adds a wonderful bittersweet component to tomato and vinegar sauces as well as oven-baked fish.

Cumin

A favorite in Mexican, Indian, and Middle Eastern cooking, cumin adds a savory, smoky flavor to dishes in small doses. If you like to add a little bit of spice and excitement to your dishes but you aren’t a big fan of spiciness, cumin is a great compromise.

View this post on Instagram

😍 Easy delicious keto meatsauce! 😍 🇸🇪 Lite längre ner…. Ground beef (I´m not fond of ground pork, but you choose), butter, onion, broth, tomatoes, salt, blackpepper, cream, lots of cumin and fresh basil. Cumin is SO nice in this super easy meatsauce. 🇸🇪 Nötfärs (jag har skippat blandfärsen, men välj vad du tycker bäst om), smör, lök, oxbuljong, grädde, krossade tomater, salt, svartpeppar, rejält med spiskummin och i med färsk basilika. Lätt som en plätt och väldigt gott tack vare spiskumminen. #intermittentfasting #ketosis #keto #ketodiet #ketogenic #cleaneating #lowcarb #lowcarbhighfat #lchf #fitfam #fitspo #health #healthy #weightloss #weightlossjourney #fitness #workout #glutenfree #sugarfree #cumin #carnivore #meatsauce #ketorecipe #lågkolhydratkost #lavkarbo #wellness #homemade #primal #fatfueled

A post shared by 🇸🇪Monika🇸🇪 (@lchf_med_vikingafrun) on

The post You Have to Try these Underutilized Spices appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

]]> Why You Should Buy Your Spices Whole https://falafelandcaviar.com/why-you-should-buy-your-spices-whole/ Sat, 09 Mar 2019 11:09:00 +0000 https://falafelandcaviar.com/?p=6128 Every ground spice starts off as something whole. While it’s easier to just buy the ground version, there are a lot of benefits to buying your spices whole and grinding them yourself. Although it’s a more arduous task, if you want the best flavor possible, start buying your spices whole. Quality Often, if you buy […]

The post Why You Should Buy Your Spices Whole appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

]]> Every ground spice starts off as something whole. While it’s easier to just buy the ground version, there are a lot of benefits to buying your spices whole and grinding them yourself. Although it’s a more arduous task, if you want the best flavor possible, start buying your spices whole.

View this post on Instagram

Garam Masala. . In my opinion, Garam masala doesn't need a lengthy introduction. Anyone who has looked up Indian curries must have seen Garam masala listed under ingredients. This aromatic spice blend is a must have in about 90% of Indian curries. It adds such a complex layer of heat, flavour and aroma to our curries. . Now, what is Garam Masala? Most people are used to buying them already powdered, in little bottles or packets. Just like the flavours of Indian cuisine varies from one state to another the number and type of spices used in garam masala varies. For example, North Indian garam masala is very different from its South Indian counterpart. . Here are the spices my mother use to make garam masala. Javitri or mace, cinnamon, star anise, green cardamom, fennel seeds, poppy seeds, cloves, peppercorns and cumin. At my home, we always try to make everything from scratch, especially spice blends and spice powders. That way you get better quality blends for much cheaper price. . . #garammasala #southindianmasala #indianspices #wholespices #cardamom #cinnamon #staranise #cumin #fennel #hautecuisines #foodfluffer #thefeedfeed #foodphotography #darkfoodphotography #stilllifephotography #foodstyling #flatlaytoday #foodartblog #exceptionalstilllife #still_life_gallery #gs_stilllife #currypowder #curry #instagram

A post shared by Gitanjali | Food Photographer (@cuisineceleste) on

Quality

https://www.instagram.com/p/Brsn_F5j5Dh/

Often, if you buy your spices whole, you will be getting a better quality spice because it’s the whole product. This is especially the case if you buy your spices from ethnic stores, because they get them from countries that have the best quality products.

Freshness

With ground spices, you never know how long they’ve been sitting in a warehouse before they got shipped to the grocery store. Therefore, buying them whole and grinding them yourself will ensure that you’re getting the freshest spice possible. And with freshness comes better flavor.

Different Uses

While there are recipes that call for ground spices, a lot of different dishes need whole spices. Whether you’re pickling, making a curry paste, or a Cajun boil, there are a lot of ways to use whole spices as they are.

The post Why You Should Buy Your Spices Whole appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

]]>