Indian Spices

"Indian Spices: The Taste of India"
Indian's first choice in taste of food & cuisine are spicy and tangy flavour. No Indian meal is complete without hot & spicy delicious flavoured food. Thus, spices and derivatives are basically used for flavouring food. These spices can be in the form of dried bark, leaf, powdered or seeds. "Spice" in general terms are "dried seed, fruit, root, bark, leaf or vegetative substance used as a food additive for the purpose of flavor, color or preservative."

Other Uses of Indian Spices' :

Some of these spices & derivatives are also used for other purposes, such as medicine, religious rituals, cosmetics, perfumery or eating as vegetables. For example, turmeric is also used as a preservative; asafoetida as a medicine; garlic or ginger as a vegetable.

Range of Indian Spices includes asafoetida, cardamom, cassia, chilly (lal mirch), cumin, curry leaf, fennel, garlic, ginger (adrak), kokam, pepper (kali mirch), saffron (kesar) and tamarind (Imli). Different names exist for the wide vareity of Indian spices, some of these Indian Spices are listed below :

Asafoetida : Asafoetida's English and scientific name is derived from the Persian word for resin and Latin foetida. In local language asafoetida' means hing' or heeng'. Asafoetida has a pungent garlic smell when raw but when cooked adds smooth flavor to the meal. Asafoetida is of great medicinal use for digestive system. It is also usefull in cases of asthma and bronchitis. Commercially, on the basis of quality Indian asafoetida comes in the following forms : 1. Tears 2. Mass 3. Paste
Botanical name of Asafoetida : Ferula asafoetida'
Family name of Asafoetida : Apiaceae Oleogum'.

Cardamom (Large & Small): Cardamom are of two type large Cardamom' and small Cardamom'. In hindi cardamom is termed as elaichi'. Cardamom are generally from the ginger family'. Both forms of cardamom are used as flavorings in both food and drink, as cooking spices and as a medicine. There were initially three natural varieties of cardamom plants are : Malabar, Mysore & Vazhuka.

In South Asia, small cardamom' or green cardamom' is often used in traditional Indian sweets and in Masala chai (spiced tea).

Cassia : In hindi language cassia' is termed as Dal Chini'. Cassia is generally used as flavouring food. Cassia is in the form of dried bark, seed and powdererd form. It has a strong aroma and gives slightly sweet, warm and bitter flavour.

Chilly ( Lal Mirch ) : Commonly named as lal mirch'. Chilly is the form of green and fresh chilly, riped and dried pod (fruit). Most important species of chilly is Capsicum Annuum'. The consumption of chilly is highest in India as Indian's most preferred choice is spicy and tangy taste, where chilly add spicy flavour to the food.

Curry Leaf : In Indian cuisine curry leaf are used fresh or fried in some recipes. Indian curry leaf makes many wonderful dishes for Indian cuisine. The range of curry leaf are mainly cultivated in the east part of India, its range extends to Burma, Malaysia, South Africa and Reunion Island. Curry Leaf are grown in abundance in Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh and many other places in India. In India in its local language, it is usually known as Curry Patta'.
Almost every spices adds flavour & delicious taste to our cuisine.


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