Spice styles of India, region by region

There is no single Indian way with spices. Each region has its own signature.

North India and Punjab

Onion, tomato and ginger-garlic bases with cumin, coriander, garam masala and kasuri methi. Think chole, rajma and dal makhani.

Kashmiri Pandit cooking uses fennel, dry ginger, Kashmiri chilli and asafoetida instead of onion and garlic. See Kashmiri masala.

Tempering with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves; sourness from tamarind; roasted powders like sambar powder and rasam powder. Chettinad cooking adds pepper, star anise and stone flower.

Panch phoron, mustard oil and ground mustard paste, with a light hand on chilli.

Goda masala inland; on the coast, roasted coconut, kokum and fiery Malvani masala.

A sweet-sour-hot balance, with mustard seeds, asafoetida and a little jaggery in dals and kadhi.

Fragrant spices for biryani and kormas: mace, nutmeg, saffron, shahi jeera and rose petals.

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