Without spices the dishes won't be as delicious as you would want
them to be. Take for instance, a chicken soup or stew, you will rarely find the same
taste from two different restaurants. The same reason why there are so many
different versions of biryani because the biryani masala used is different
everywhere. The khada masala might be the same but there are other spices that
go into it, which vary from region to region and their method of preparation.
Knowing the spices helps you to create different flavours for your
dishes. It's not just about taste but the aroma too, which in fact makes a lot
of difference when you are having something. Here are a few masalas or spices
that you should know about to flavour up your food-
Black pepper is a strong spice that
lingers on your taste buds for a while. It also adds aroma to the dish. In
addition to being an ingredient in garam masala, black pepper can be used to
flavour soups, stews, curry, tea, meat dishes, dum aloo etc.
Bay Leaf is an aromatic spice that makes its presence known. It is
an important ingredient in khada masala and is used in almost all the rice
dishes such as biryani, pulaw, khichdi, kheer, upma, dal tadka, and chicken,
mutton gravy, and mutton keema masala. You can even used it in your tea. It is not
used in seafood.
Cardamom is a flavoursome spice that has a slight cooling sensation
and a strong fragrance. It is used coarse and ground in both sweet and spicy
dishes. You can use it in almost all the Indian dishes both veg and non veg. Do
not use it in seafood and soups.
Cayenne pepper is singularly used for its extremely spicy taste with
no aroma at all. You can use it to spice up your curries and stews. Thai and
Malaysian food uses Cayenne pepper in their dishes.
Cloves have strong flavour and aroma and used sparingly. Asian and
Persian meat dishes, curries, and marriandes use them. They are used alongside
cumin and cinnamon to balance the flavour. Meat gravies and rice dishes have
them.
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