Top Essential Spices in an Indian Kitchen

Many ancient civilisations used various herbs and spices like cinnamon, saffron, turmeric etc, for medicinal purposes. Some spices like turmeric, cinnamon, and cloves have been prevalent in Indian kitchens for their medicinal properties and for enhancing the taste of various dishes. You can still find these spices in almost every Indian kitchen.

Indians use their spices in three ways; they use the whole spices to extract the raw and fresh taste and grind them to mix them well with the gravy. The third way is mixing a combination to create a unique blend of spices for Indian cooking.

The seven major Indian spices include cumin, coriander, clove, cinnamon, turmeric, fenugreek, and carom seeds. You can use these spices without grounding them to get the best taste. Read the following points to get a detailed idea about the taste profile and benefits of all these spices:

Cumin (Jeera)

Cumin, or Jeera, is a plant that belongs to the parsley plant family. Its seeds are extracted once dried. In appearance, these seeds look long and slender but come in different colours ranging from white, green to black. The most common colour variant of these seeds is light brown, which you can find in almost every kitchen in India.

Add 1 tsp of Nourish Jeera at the beginning of making a curry, sabzi or sauteed veggie to bring a smoky flavour to your dish. It has specific healing properties that can help control blood sugar levels, help in weight management, and fight bacteria.

Coriander Seeds (Sabut Dhaniya)

This seed also comes from a plant (Cilantro) from the parsley family. Also famous as Dhaniya seeds, these are extracted when dried. These are round-shaped tan-coloured seeds with a mild lemony flavour.

Many women prefer buying whole seeds and grinding them at home using a grinder as it brings out a fresh and better aroma. Just like cumin seeds, these seeds are also added at the beginning of making a dish. It pairs well with cumin seeds.

You can search Nourish Sabut Dhaniya online and buy these whole coriander seeds.

Cloves (Laung)

Cloves are also known as Laung in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh regions. This spice is grown as a flower bud on the clove tree. The flavour of this spice is intense and strong. People often add cloves to rice dishes and vegetables for that pungent aroma. It is also a common spice to add while baking cookies and cakes.

Cloves have various medicinal properties, like aiding in controlling blood sugar levels and reducing oxidative stress in the body. The best benefit of this spice is that it can improve oral health. You can put one clove in your mouth every day and lightly chew it. The juices released by cloves will eliminate bad odour and kill the bacteria.

Cinnamon (Dalchini)

Cinnamon is a wood-based Indian spice with a warm, strong and sweet aroma. It has various uses in the kitchen. If you are baking cakes or cookies or making an excellent coffee, you can add some cinnamon powder to it. Still, if you are making a biryani, pulao or any other native Indian dish, you can add some small pieces of cinnamon to get the fresh flavour.

This spice is great for winter as it helps in keeping your body warm. Moreover, if you have a cold or a cough, you can make a nice cinnamon tea, as it will help in soothing your inflamed throat. This spice can also help in burning fat and fighting acne.

Fenugreek Seeds (Methi Dana)

These seeds are commonly known as methi dana in Indian kitchens. In appearance, they are golden in colour and have a nutty, sweet flavour. People often put Methi Dana in their condiments like Achars and chutneys. It has various health benefits like improving digestive function, reducing heartburn, improving metabolism and improving sexual drive.

Carom Seeds (Ajwain)

Ajwain is a common spice that Indians add to their snacks, like samosas, puri, dahi vada, and stuffed parathas. Many people consume these seeds in water every morning to keep their stomach healthy as it treats stomach aches and indigestion-related pain.

These are some of the significant Indian spices that can enhance any meal you cook at home. You can buy spices online from a Nourish store at very affordable prices.