Know your spices

It’s said that in olden times, humans used to eat 8,000 different kinds of food every year. In modern times, this has dwindled to just eight on average in Western countries. But in Nepal, we still continue to eat a wide variety of foods. Not the least of them being spices. We may take them for granted, but the consumption of miniscule quantities of these spices everyday help keep our immunity buoyant to a large extent. Let’s get to know a few of them better.

Everyday spices – Savory

These are the spices most often used in Nepali kitchen to give flavor to our lentils, vegetables, and pickles.

Chili (Khorsani): Chili is perhaps the most potent spice of all, sufficing in itself to provide flavor to a dish. But chili is also special in another way. Go ahead and let them pop as you fry them in oil, because it’ll not harm your body like other spices may.

Garlic (Lasun): For long, garlic has been shunned from strict Brahmin kitchens, ostensibly for its sensuality. But those who shun garlic miss out on a lot, and not just because it makes any dish appetizing and intensely aromatic. Garlic has long been known for health benefits, including reducing cholesterol and preventing common cold. Garlic leaves are also edible.

Cumin (Jeera): No curry is complete without a spatter of cumin seeds bursting in oil in the beginning. Cumin can be used as grains or as powder. Perhaps the smell of cumin powder is the one fragrance that can distinctly point towards a Nepali jhol bubbling away somewhere.

Thyme (Jwano): Thyme is a negative-calorie food, which means that it takes away more calories from your body than it gives. But its strong taste prohibits you from eating too much of it just to reduce weight. The dried leaves of thyme, known as oregano, are popular nowadays because of its use in pizza sauce. Oregano gives a milder version of the same taste.

Coriander (Dhaniya): Coriander at any stage is a tasteful addition to savory dishes. The leaves of coriander are too soft to be cooked, and can be used as a garnish in curries and chutneys. The seeds, meanwhile, can be fried whole, or ground and sprinkled over savory dishes.

Everyday spices – Sweet

These spices can be used in sweet as well as savory dishes.

Fenugreek (Methi): The qualities of fenugreek are as sweet as fenugreek is bitter. Because of its high protein content, it can substitute fish in a diet. Used along with cumin to spice curries and lentils, fenugreek is also used in sweet dishes. It tempers the sweetness of kheer pudding and sel bread, providing a lingering flavor that stays in the mouth long after the dish is gone.

Ginger (Aduwa): Unlike its spurned partner garlic, ginger has been welcomed in all kinds of Nepali kitchens for ages. And also, unlike garlic, ginger can be used in sweet dishes as well. In fact, ginger tea is very useful for curing headaches, and ginger hot lemon can immediately make you feel warm! Ginger is used in a wide variety of dishes: to make ginger ale, to bake gingerbread, and to accompany sushi.

Mint (Pudina): While we’re used to having mint in pickles, mint also gives a very refreshing flavor to drinks. Try having sprigs of mint in fruit juices, or ground mint in sherbets. In any form, mint is good for digestion as well as immunity.

Pepper (Marich): Not for nothing is pepper called the king of spices: it’s the spice that yields the least quantity of output per unit of land. As a result, it was very expensive in olden days, and still is more expensive than many other spices. But today, it’s also become a staple in tea, especially in winter, and carries off bland dishes like mashed potatoes on its own.

Fennel (Saunf): Though we’re mostly used to quaffing a handful of fennel after a meal, fennel has other uses in cooking, too. Fennel is what makes malpuwa smell so good, and acts as a preservative in sweet chutneys of lapsi or mango.

Special spices: Garam Masala

The combination of the four ingredients below, give or take a spice, forms garam masala. Garam masala itself, or any ingredient of it, can be used in savories as well as sweet dishes. Each of them makes a fantastic addition to tea.

Cardamom (Sukumel/Alainchi): Cardamom has a uniquely sweet taste, in that it doesn’t sting like other spices. A small pinch of cardamom, either black or green, can make your whole house fragrant. We use it sparingly in sweets and baked pastries. Not to forget, Nepal is one of the top producers of black cardamom in the world.

Clove (Lwang): Hard to believe, but the tough little twigs are actually flowers of the clove tree. By itself, clove has a very strong taste, and hence is often accompanied by cardamom, cinnamon, or ginger. Once grown only in the tropical islands of Indonesia, cloves were a very rare and highly traded commodity. Today, cloves are still grown in limited areas but found all over the world.

Cinnamon (Dalchini): Cinnamon must be the most popular spice in western sweets: think of cinnamon latte and cinnamon rolls. Its wood-like structure comes from the fact that it’s the bark of a tree which produces bay leaves (Tezpat), another spice. Since bay leaves don’t soften on cooking, it’s advised to use the leaf either whole or finely ground.

Nutmeg (Jaifal): Nutmeg has a distinctive smell and is used in eggnogs and spiced wines, curries and lassis. But it’s also one of those spices that you’re advised to take in moderation: small doses can relax you, while too much of it can make you delirious. Its intoxicant properties make it a desired spice for smoking in some parts of India.

Published in Republica on 4 April 2014, page 14