- A masala dabba is typically a round container with a lid that holds Indian families’ most used spices. Seven smaller pots called katori, nestled inside, hold each spice separately.
- Madhya Pradesh, which sits at the center of India, is the country’s largest spice-producing state.
- Delhi’s Khari Baoli, Asia’s largest spice market, dates to the mid-17th century and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- India produces 80% of the world’s turmeric crop and consumes that same percentage of global supply.
- Garam masala is the spice blend most often used in Indian cooking. The recipe varies by region, but bay leaf, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, and fennel seeds are generally in the mix.
- Tikka masala, a milder blend comprising black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, paprika, and turmeric, is used in tomato-based curries.
- Panch phoron is a mixture of aromatic seeds—warming cumin, oniony nigella, licorice-like fennel, spicy brown mustard, and bitter fenugreek —that are thrown into hot oil or ghee at the beginning of the cooking process.
- Fenugreek seeds smell and taste mildly of maple syrup.
- The heat of India’s hottest chile, the bhut jolokia, registers 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce.
- A pinch of asafetida, a putrid-smelling gum taken from a variety of fennel plant, sizzled for five seconds in hot oil gives whatever will be cooked in that oil a comforting oniony garlic flavor. Plus, it’s a natural defeater of intestinal wind.
Boils, Bakes, Fries, and Feeds
Colles Stowell
