The trick to making any dish more flavorful is in adding the right spice powder. It can immediately enhance the taste of the dish and give it an aromatic fragrance as well.
There are many different spice powders like curry powder, all-spice powder, garam masala powder and many more such powders that you can add into your dishes for that extra flavour. So, how about learn to make these powders at home!
Here are the recipes to make different spice powders at home:
1. 5 Spice Powder
Ingredients:
- 3 tsp pepper corns
- 2 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- 6 star anise (whole)
- 1 cinnamon stick ( 3 inchs long)
Recipe :
On a pan, dry roast all the ingredients for few minutes until you begin to get the aroma of the spices. Do this on low heat. Thereafter, add all the dry roasted spices into a blender and grind until it becomes a fine powder.
Transfer into a bowl and then add in the cinnamon powder, fennel powder and clove powder. Give it a mix and the 5-spice powder is ready to use. Store in a cool dry place, in an airtight container.
2. Basic Curry Powder
Ingredients:
- 4 small dried red chilies peppers
- 4 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 tbsp cumin seeds
- 2 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp turmeric powder
Recipe :
On a pan, dry roast together the red chilies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and fennel seeds for a few minutes until you begin to get the aroma of the spices. Do this on low heat. Thereafter, add all the dry roasted spices into a blender and grind it along with the turmeric powder until it becomes a fine powder.
Transfer into a bowl and then add in the cardamom powder and ginger powder. Give it a mix and the curry powder is ready to use. Store in a cool dry place, in an airtight container.
Method 2 – Curry powder
- 4 small dried red chili peppers
- 4 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 2 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 2 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoons ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 4 dried curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Recipe : On a pan, dry roast together all the whole spice and curry leaves and add it to the blender along with the powders and blend until you get a fine powder. Store the curry powder in an airtight jar in a dark, cool place. Will keep for several months but for best flavor use within a few weeks.
3. Apple Pie Spice Powder
Ingredients:
- ½ cup freshly ground cinnamon powder
- 2 tsp ground ginger powder
- 1 tsp grated nutmeg
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
Recipe :
Into a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients together and give it a mix. The apple pie spice
powder is ready to use. Store in a cool dry place, in an airtight container.
4. Garam Masala Powder
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup coriander seeds
- 1/2 cup cumin seeds
- 20 green cardamoms
- 2 tbsp cloves
- 2 tbsp black pepper
- 10 cinnamon sticks ( about 2-3 inches long)
- 4 black cardamoms
- 10 dried bay leaves
- 3 star anise
- 1/4 cup fennel seeds
- 1 nutmeg
- 2 tbsp mace
- 2 tablespoons dry ginger powder
Recipe :
On a pan, dry roast all the ingredients motioned above for a few minutes until you begin to get the aroma of the spices. Do this on low heat. Take the nutmeg in a mortar-pestle and crush it coarsely. Keep aside.
Thereafter, add all the dry roasted spices into a blender and grind until it becomes a fine powder. Then add the coarsely crushed nutmeg powder and grind again. Give it a mix and the garam masala powder is ready to use. Store in a cool dry place, in an airtight container.
Note – this recipe is made with black pepper, however the South Indian garam masala is made using red chilis. If you wish to add dry chili then reduce the quantity of black pepper.
5. All-Spice Powder
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp ground cloves
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp ground nutmeg
Recipe :
Into a mixing bowl, add in all the ground spices and give it a mix. Then, is ready to use. Store in a cool dry place, in an airtight container.
6. Poultry Seasoning Powder
Ingredients:
1 tsp sage powder
1 tsp thyme powder
¼ tsp black pepper powder
A pinch of nutmeg powder
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp parsley flakes
1 tsp rosemary powder
½ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp marjoram or basil powder
Note: To obtain the powder for sage, thyme, black pepper, rosemary and marjoram (or basil), it is advisable to dry roast all these dry ingredients first and then grind it into a fine powder. This will make the powder more flavourful than directly using store-bought powders.
Recipe :
Into a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients together and give it a mix. The poultry seasoning powder is ready to use. Store in a cool dry place, in an airtight container.
7. Pumpkin Pie Spice Powder
Ingredients:
- 1.5 tbsp cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- ½ tsp clove powder
- ¾ tsp grated nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground all spice
- ¼ tsp black pepper powder
Note: To obtain the powder for cinnamon, clove and black pepper, it is advisable to dry roast all these dry ingredients first and then grind it into a fine powder. This will make the powder more flavourful than directly using store-bought powders.
Recipe :
Into a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients together and give it a mix. The pumpkin spice powder is ready to use. Store in a cool dry place, in an airtight container.
