Important spices

Paanch phoron:

A combination of five spices: fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds, cumin seeds and wild celery in equal amounts. Celery or black mustard can be used in stead of wild celery.

This combination is very special to Bengali, Assamese and Oriya cuisine. It is often the first spice to be added into heated oil (along with dried red chilly and tej pata [bay leaf]) and other spices are added after these seeds stop bursting.

Garam Masala (Garom Mashlaa):

Literally this means “hot spice”. In Bengal the combination of three aromatic spices: green cardamom, cinnamon and cloves is used. However you get packed Garam Masala powder in in the market, that is usually different (dominated by cumin and coriander) from what we use as garam masala. Always ground the whole spices just before use. Otherwise the aroma fades. It is used only in special rich dishes like meat.

Turmeric (Holud):

Traditionally boiled and dried turmeric rhizomes were soaked in water to soften it and then ground to a paste. This maintains the maximum flavour of the spice. But because of the significant effort required in making the paste, powdered turmeric is most popular.

Turmeric powder is almost ubiquitous in Bengali dishes. It is added to fish, meat and vegetables along with salt and red-chilly powder and oil as a common marinade. It is also added for colour and flavour to most dishes (during Boiling)

Cumin (Jeera):

Jeera or cumin seed is the next most common spice. Apart from being a component of “paanch phoron” it is used on its own in various ways.

Cumin seeds are commonly used as “phoron” (stage 2) for fish dishes, where “paanch phoron” is not used. Paste of cumin seed is a common ingredient for “jhol” (added in step Boiling). For a strong flavour, it can be dry roasted and ground and added at the end (Finishing).

Coriander seeds (Dhone/Dhaniya):

Coriander seeds have a strong flavour and can be added to Daal along with paanch phoron (Phoron). Powdered/pasted coriander seed can be used in jhol along with/ in stead of cumin (Boiling). It is also used in tomato chutney for flavour.

Nigela seeds (Kaalo Jeera/ Black Jeera/ Kalonji):

This has a very special flavour and is rather specific to Bengali/east Indian cuisine. Apart from being part of paanch phoron it can be used on its own just like cumin. When used on its own, hardly any other spice needs to be added to that dish. Such dishes are usually very mild in taste. Most fresh water fishes, hilsa and pomphret can be cooked this way.

Asafoetida (Hing):

This has very strong flavour and often avoided(along with onion and garlic) by religious Hindus. On the other hand, foodies love it as it can add a very rich flavour to any food. However one should be economic in its use as any excess may spoil the taste. One common use of asafoetida is in the filling for parathas and kachouris.

Omum seed (Joan/Ajwayan):

This hot-tasting spice is used in parathas. It is also considered a digestive and chewed with a pinch of salt after meals. It can also be used as a phoron in daal.

Fennel seed (Mouri/Saunf):

This is one of the components of paanch phoron. It can be used as a phoron on its own when making chutney.

Fenugreek seed (Methi):

This is a bitter but aromatic spice and one of the components of paanch phoron. If you do not like the bitter taste, use in small amounts (in paanch phoron using 1/4-th the quantity of each of the other components will avoid the bitterness while adding sufficient flavour).

Coconut milk:

Most “malai-curries” (most commonly prawn malai-curry or narkel chingri and chicken malai-curry) are made from coconut milk. It is best to extract it fresh from a mature coconut. But it is also available as packed powder. Grate a fresh coconut. Mix a little warm water (~50 ml) and squeeze out the milk using your hand. If using powder, add 3 tablespoons(~20 g) of the milk solid to 1 cup of warm water (~150 ml).

Cardamom (Elaach / Elaichi):

Cardamom has a strong yet soothing flavour. So it can be used in very spicy meat dishes as well as very mildly flavoured deserts (like paayasam or khir). But unlike Sweden, in Bengal it is considered a very expensive and special spice. So it is used sparingly only in special dishes. Green cardamom is one of the ingredients of Garam Mashala (meaning hot spice).

Cinnamon (Daaruchini / Daalchini):

This has sweet aroma and a strong flavour. This is the major component of Garam Mashala. In meat dishes, keep the proportion of cinnamon high compared to cardamom. In deserts keep the cinnamon low compared to cardamom.

Clove (Lavanga):

This is the other ingredient of Garam Mashala. Clove has even stronger taste and smell than cinnamon. It creates a burning sensation in the tongue when chewed directly. Use it sparingly as it will dominate all other flavours in food and excess may make the taste unpleasantly strong. If you are adding whole cloves, four to six buds are enough for a dish for up to eight people and when ground, three to five buds will do the job.

Malabathrum (Tejpatta):

This is very commonly used as phoron. When using it as phoron, quickly follow it with other (wet) spices as it tends to get charred easily. It goes with almost every dish, from daal to meat to paayes (khir). It adds aroma without changing the taste too much. Usually one or two big leaves are enough in a dish for five people.