Spices can add a complexity of flavour in your cooking only if you know the right way of using them.
If you are someone who does not feel confident in cooking with spices, we are here to help you. Spices add huge and bold flavours in your food and using them will give your food character and personality. Spices can be used in food in many ways. Whether you choose to roast them, ground them or keep them whole, there are techniques that you need to master. Here are a few things you should know if you are starting to cook with spices.
Know The Type Of Spices You Are Using
Get to know the type of the spices you will be using. There are mainly to types of spices –ground spices and whole spices. The whole spices are what can be found in the form of barks, flowers, buds, seeds and so on. These spices are used to add aroma in the food. The ground spices are made from grinding the whole spices into a form of powder. These types of spices are used to add flavour into the food. Depending on what result you want to achieve in the dish by using the spices select your type of spice, ground or whole. If you want flavour add ground spices. If you want aroma, add whole spices. As simple as that!
Know What Combinations Work The Best
Identify the taste of the spices before adding it to any dish. For example, spices like cardamom, cinnamon and cloves have sweet notes and go well with sweet dishes. Spices like garam masala, black pepper and chilli powder have hot and sharp flavours and would add heat to any dish. Again, spices like cumin powder and coriander powder are pungent spices that are used as taste enhances. Use the spices according to the flavour profile you would like.
Less Is More Should Be The Mantra
Spices have very strong and distinctive flavours. They are not subtle when it comes to rendering flavour to a dish. Naturally, always go with a light hand when adding spices to your dish. Remember that less is more. If you need more spice, you can always add more but it becomes difficult to tone down when you have used too much of them. Be subtle and don’t let the spices overpower the actual flavours of the dish.
