The uses and benefits of spices

Apart from adding colour, flavour and taste, consumption of spices provide infinite health benefits.  You can be more creative in the use of spices if you know its uses better.  Some may be a substitute to your costly beauty products and even medicines.  Here is a quick overview of the most important spices used in Indian cooking, their uses and benefits.  (Source: IndiaParenting.com)

Spices	Uses	Benefits
Asafoetida (Hing)	It is used for seasoning food especially snacks.	A good remedy for whooping cough and stomach ache due to gas.
Bay leaf (Tez Patta)	It is used in cooking to add a specific flavour to food.	Bay leaf oil possesses antifungal and anti bacterial properties.
Cardamom (Elaichi)	Commonly used in sweet dishes to give a good flavour and smell. It is also used widely in pharmaceutical sector.	Helps to control bad breath and digestive disorder. A whole cardamom chewed is good for coping with diabetes.
Chilli (Lal Mirch)	Main ingredient used for adding spicy flavour to the food.	The antioxidants present in chilli helps to cope with cholesterol and helps to burn calories.
Cinnamon (Dalchini)	Commonly used to season the food and to prepare masala.	It supports natural production of insulin and reduces blood cholesterol.
Clove (Laung)	Like cinnamon, clove is used to season the food and to prepare masala.	Clove oil is beneficial for coping with tooth ache and sore gums. It is also a beneficial remedy for chest pain, fever, digestive problems, and cough and cold.
Coriander (Dhaniya)	Coriander leaves, seeds and powder are a common ingredient in Indian cooking.	It can be used externally on aching joints and rheumatism. Helps with soar throat, allergies, digestion problems, and fever.
Cumin (Zeera)	Another common ingredient used in Indian cooking for it’s earthy flavour.	A good source of iron which keeps the immune system healthy. Water boiled with cumin seeds is good for coping with dysentery.
Curry leaves(Curry Patta)	Commonly ingredient found in South India cuisine.	These leaves are beneficial for reducing blood sugar. Each part of the plant provides some benefit or the other. The dried leaves are extensively used in herbal medicines.
Fenugreek (Methi)	Mainly used as a green leafy vegetable and the seeds are used for seasoning and preparing Masalas.	Fenugreek tea is good for increasing breast milk. It also helps to treat diabetes and lower cholesterol level.
Garlic (Lassan)	It is used for cooking as well as for the medicinal purpose.	The antibiotic properties found in this ingredient is used to cope with cough and cold.
Ginger (Adrak)	It is used for giving a specific flavour to food and has many medicinal uses.	Helps to avoid digestive problems. It is beneficial for coping with cough and cold.
Mustard (Rye)	It is used for seasoning .  The use of mustard oil is extensive in India but banned in some countries.	Mustard oil is good for body massage and growing healthy hair. It consists of omega-3 fatty acids and is an excellent source of iron, zinc, manganese, calcium, and protein.
Nutmeg (Jaiphal)	Used for garnishing and masala preparation. It is used in soaps, perfumes and shampoos.	It is beneficial for the treatment of asthma, heart disorder and bad breath.
Pepper (Kaali Mirch)	It is extensively used in cooking, especially for garnishing.	The healing properties in this ingredient helps to treat muscle pain, digestive problems, cold, cough and infection.
Saffron (Zaffran/Kesar)	It is used for cooking as well as in beauty products. It is mainly used in sweet dishes.	It helps to cope with skin diseases. It is a good remedy for cough, cold and asthma when mixed with hot milk.
Star anise (Chakra Phool)	It is used in cooking and for medicinal purpose	Star anise oil is beneficial for rheumatism, digestion and bad breadth.
Turmeric (Haldi)	It is used in cooking and skin care products. It has a wide range of medicinal uses.	Turmeric is used for arthritis, heartburn, stomach pain, diarrhea, intestinal gas, stomach bloating, loss of appetite, jaundice, liver problems and gallbladder disorders.  It is also used for headaches, bronchitis, cold, lung infections, fibromyalgia, leprosy, fever, menstrual problems, and cancer. Other uses include depression, Alzheimer’s disease, water retention, worms, and kidney problems.Some people apply turmeric to the skin for pain, ringworm, bruising, leech bites, eye infections, inflammatory skin conditions, soreness inside of the mouth, and infected wounds.In food and manufacturing, the essential oil of turmeric is used in perfumes, and its resin is used as a flavor and color component in foods.

Best Indian Chicken Curry

Cooking chicken curry is a skill.  This skill can be learned with patience and practice. Once you have mastered the basics of making chicken curry, you can play around with the variety of species and choose to toast, roast or pound them. The meat should be cooked delicately and can be bathed, steeped, stewed or simmered in the gravy. Once the oil starts separating, you know your base is ready for the chicken allowing the rich and redolent flavours to seep through.

Here is a link to some of the best chicken curry recipes that I have found online.

Spicy Malvani Masala 
Recipe by Chef Aditya Bal

A fiery curry with a coconut base. The highlight of this chicken curry is the freshly made malvani masala.

 

Chicken Tikka Masala
Recipe by Chef Manju Malhi

This is one of the most ordered restaurant meal across the globe. Need we say more?(Recipe Video)

 

Low Fat Dahi Chicken
Recipe by Chef Divya Burman

Not your usual fare, this one is made with a soothing yogurt base and is worth every calorie.

 

Nimbu aur Hari Mirch ka Murg
Recipe by Chef Meraj Ul Haque, Foodistan

A squeeze of lime makes everything better. Chicken laced with a taste-bud tingling mix highlighted with lime and green chillies.

Chicken Stew with Appam
Recipe by Chef Joey Mathew

A lovely curry made with distinct flavor of coconut milk and coconut oil. The curry is best served with appam, a southern-style rice pancake. (Recipe Video)

 

Murg Rezala
Recipe by Chef Niru Gupta

A popular Bengali curry, this curry is rich and robust. Made with boneless chicken, cashew nut paste, khoya and coconut, murg rezala is an absolute treat.

 

Chicken Do Pyaaza
Recipe by Chef Marut Sikka

This recipe uses double the quantity of onions used in a regular curry, thus the name. A Punjabi favourite with freshly made garam masala, ginger-garlic, kasoori methi, cream and a host of spices. The use of onion imparts a subtle sweetness which is balanced with a variety of spices. (Recipe Video)

 

Chicken Xacuti
Recipe by Chef Tara Deshpande

Xacuti is a Goan delicacy. It is a very spicy curry with chicken chunks cooked in a medley of local flavours like coconut, cashews and white poppy-seeds.

 

Kolhapuri Chicken Curry
Recipe by Chef Anish Padgaonkar, The Oberoi Mumbai, Khandahar

Chicken curry cooked with a special Kolhapuri masala that uses bold flavours of peanut oil, bay leaf, black pepper and cloves. (Recipe Video)

 

Healthy Chicken Curry

Healthy Chicken Curry

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, cut up into parts
3 TB chili powder
1 tsp fennel seeds
1.5 TB ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin
1 or 2 whole star anise (optional)
10 dried chili peppers
10 shallots
3 inches of ginger, peeled
20 cloves of garlic
1.5 heaping TB mustard seeds
2 stalks of curry leaves
2 TB corn or vegetable oil
Salt, to taste

Chop up the garlic, shallots and ginger and use the food processor to grind it to a smooth paste. Set a small portion of this mixture aside. Then mix up the rest with the chili powder, fennel seeds, coriander, turmeric, cumin and set that aside for 15 minutes.

Heat 2 TB of oil in a wok over medium to high heat until the oil is very hot. Add the mustard seeds and fry until the mustard seeds start to pop and split open. Add the small portion of garlic, ginger and shallots that you’d set aside and fry that a little, until fragrant, then add in the rest of the ingredients (the spice mixture, chicken, star anise, dried chili peppers, salt and curry leaves).

Cook for 45 minutes over medium heat, or until chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally. If you’d like a gravy, cover the wok while cooking. If you’d prefer a dry curry, don’t cover it.

Serve with rice.

Indian Spices

Indian cuisine is characterized by the extensive use of numerous spices.   Spices or Masala as it is called in Hindi may be called the ‘heartbeat’ of an Indian kitchen.

Spices are used to flavor the food, making each dish distinct and wonderfully aromatic.  Each spice has its own unique flavour and when combined with other spices, magically change the individual characteristics. Spices in Indian cooking is not only used to flavour the food but also for health and medicinal purposes to prevent disease and also to preserve food.

Essentially in an Indian home kitchen, spices are stored in a masala dabba or Indian spice box to organize the spices.  Dabba is a round stainless steel tin with a tight-fitting solid or glass lid and can typically hold seven or smaller canisters that house an array of spices.

The spices in a masala dabba varies from individual household.  It’s really a matter of personal taste.  You can have as many as two or three masala dabbas to hold your spices.

I store the following spices in my dabba as these are the most commonly used spices in my household.

• cardamon pods
• chilli powder
• coriander seeds
• cloves
• cumin powder
• cumin seeds
• fennel seeds
• garam masala
• ginger powder
• mustard seeds
• star anise
• turmeric

You can find a complete list of  Indian spices here.

Curries Around the World

There is no easy way to define ‘curry’.  Usually, any dish that contains curry powder or curry paste is considered curry.  However, the curry spices that make up paste and powder vary from region to region.

Afghanistan

Afghan curries eaten around the world have influenced dishes in South East Asia, particularly, Pakistan.  One of the most popular curry-like dishes in Afghanistan is the Afghan Korma cooked with onions and meat braised in a yoghurt sauce.

 

Bangadesh

Bangladesh curries are renowned for being spicier than the traditional Indian counterparts.  In the south, it’s usually salt-water fish and coconut milk and in the north, its fresh water fish and extra spices and vegetables.

 

Bengal

Bengali cuisine is found in Bengal, a region that straddles both India and Bangladesh.  Most Bengali curries contain fish or shrimp.  A huge variety of vegetables are used.  The most popular five-spice mix known as panch puran contains fenugreek, mustard, fennel, cumin, and kalonji.

 

India

Curries are eaten in very region of India and each region has at least one distinctive curry dish.  Some of the most popular authentic curry include, Masala, Vindaloo, Tandoori and Madras.

Why ‘Curry’ is not Indian

The word ‘Curry’ commonly refers to a dish prepared with spices originating from India.  However, the word has no real meaning in authentic South Asia cuisine and can be classed as a term historically introduced by the British.

Many people who enjoy eating South Asian Food know that curry is pinnacle dish for an Indian or South Asian meal. However, not many people are aware that the word Curry is not used as much as it is used in the English household compared to the South Asian origin. The reason there is no dish in typical Indian, Pakistani, Bengali or Sri Lankan home that is called ‘curry’.  There are twenty-nine (29) states in India and most of these have their own regional cuisine.  I will elaborate on this in my next post.  People who immigrated from India to UK brought their local dishes with them.  Therefore, the word ‘curry’ is generically used to describe a variety of spiced dishes from India and South Asia.

The origin of the word ‘curry’, though furiously debated experts, is believed to come from Tamil word ‘kari’ meaning a spiced sauce or stew.