Indian Spices and Bhut Jalokia Chili Pepper, one of the spiciest chili peppers in the world
Indian spices are the cornerstone of most Indian recipes. Used moderately in the right balance, Indian spices can turn an ordinary meal into a smorgasbord of flavors on your palate. It’s time to wake up the taste buds.
- Most Indian spices are smoky, not spicy. An over spiced or bitter outcome to a recipe using spices shows one of 2 things: that there is an unbalanced spice mix or too much red chili (which is actually spicy in taste) in the dish. My recipe for Oven-Roasted Spiced Brussels Sprout is a good blend of smoky and spicy flavors.
- The three forms of spices are. Fresh spices (think ginger, garlic, green chili, bay leaf, curry leaves), whole dried spices (cumin seeds, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, red chili, nutmeg, cardamom) and of course, the most popular form is the roasted and ground version (chili powder, cumin powder, turmeric, fenugreek powder.)