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Indian spices for beginners: the first 12 to buy

By SpiceIndia editors · Updated · About SpiceIndia

Garam Masala (5464075984)
Photo: Drew Tyre, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

You do not need forty jars to cook good Indian food. These twelve cover most everyday dishes.

The first six

  1. Cumin seeds: the base of most tadkas.
  2. Turmeric: in almost every dal and curry.
  3. Red chilli powder: heat. Add Kashmiri chilli later for colour.
  4. Ground coriander: the body of most gravies.
  5. Garam masala: ready-made is fine to start; make your own later.
  6. Mustard seeds: for South Indian and western Indian dishes.

The next six

  1. Green cardamom: for chai, rice and desserts.
  2. Cloves and 9. cinnamon: for pulao and curries.
  3. Asafoetida: a tiny pinch transforms dal.
  4. Kasuri methi: the restaurant-style finishing touch.
  5. Bay leaves: for rice and North Indian gravies.

Buy whole or ground?

Buy cumin, mustard, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon whole; they keep longer. Buy turmeric and chilli ground. Coriander is worth grinding yourself once you cook often.

What you can cook with these

With these twelve you can make dal tadka, jeera rice, chana masala, rajma, aloo gobi, khichdi and masala chai. Check them off in What can I cook?.

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