<p>I’ve always experimented with curry mixes, but I’ve also started purchasing some of individual spices to customise certain aspects of a curry mix and de-emphasise others. The spices in the thread title are those I have yet to purchase individually (among like a dozen others, hence the “etc.”). I think my favourite discovery is cumin. I recently discovered that I like to use it large amounts (past what is usually recommended) and I like it! (I usually mix it with tamarind date paste. The latter which I also use in larger amounts than recommended.)</p>
<p>I also discovered that organic food stores aren’t all price gougers and they may sell health supplements and organic yogurt at outrageous prices but their individual spices that can be bought by the gram are money savers compared to the supermarkets. However, I don’t want to buy a spice if I know it’s not the aspect I’m looking for. Can someone give me a crash course on the suggested roles of these spices, beyond what an encyclopedia article or a recipe might give? Part of the issue is that recipemakers and I have different aims in taste. A recipemaker might not find an aspect of a spice particularly desirable but I might.</p>
<p>Also: if I freeze fresh cilantro in a sealed ziploc bag to keep it longer, will I destroy its taste?</p>
<p>My source, eons ago when I married an Asian Indian and wanted to cook his homeland foods, was an Indian cookbook- there is usually a section explaining names and uses for spices in the beginning of the books. The public library probably has some, there are many more available now than years ago (Indians never wrote down their recipes). You will find cheaper spices in larger sizes at Indian grocery stores. “Curry powder” is a British invention, Indians don’t use premixed spices like that. Every region (and family) will have its own usual mix of spices used with dals and vegetables.</p>
<p>If you like cumin, I recommend trying cumin seeds. I actually like it better than ground cumin (although I don’t know if they are interchangeable in recipes). They’re great added to stir fried vegetables and other Indian veg. dishes.</p>
<p>Also: if I freeze fresh cilantro in a sealed ziploc bag to keep it longer, will I destroy its taste?</p>
<p>I don’t think so- I know some who freeze basil to have fresh pesto in winter.</p>
<p>I don’t really like cumin but I like tumeric- ( which isn’t a seed but a rhizomatous herb) I will even put it on rice by itself.
Madhur Jaffrey is an author I would recommend.</p>
<p>I grew tired of shaking the bag vigourously to get a pathetic amount of seeds, so I was so exasperated I nearly cut the bag in two with my frustration. Next time around … I forgot … oops! I don’t know how many tablespoons of cumin seeds went into that curry, but it tasted awesome. (It is also cheap enough that I didn’t fret over the cost.)</p>
<p>Sorry mods, my editing button is messed up for some reason, it won’t execute.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well not by my standards. 1.99 for a bunch, and I never end up using the whole bunch, because it rots by the time I use 1/3 or 1/4 of it. For an accessory herb (however potent and magnificent!) it scares me away from buying it too much. It’s sad, because I love cilantro.</p>
<p>Rather than freezing the cilantro on its own, make multiple recipes of dishes that call for fresh cilantro that you can then freeze. Then you can use up the entire bunch.</p>
<p>No, even this will lose the cilantro flavor – it is an elusive flavor and easily destroyed by both heat and cold, this is why you almost always add it at the end. The best way to keep cilantro is to buy a bunch, make a fresh cut across the bottom of the stems, put them in water and place in the refrigerator. I put mine in the vegetable crisper, but you can just put it on a shelf in the refrig as well ( my sister covers ii loosely with a plastic bag when she does this). It should keep a little more then a week – but cilantro is really an herb that is best used fresh. It is worth the money.</p>
<p>Trader Joe’s has frozen cilantro–it’s a flat plastic package with little cubes of cilantro so you can portion it. Not as good as fresh, of course, but handy and better than dried, which has no flavor what so ever!</p>
<p>Our local hispanic market sells cilantro with the roots. If you put it in water in your fridge it lasts much longer than most supermarket cilantro.</p>
<p>I’ve used all the spices in the title at one time or another. You should get yourself a spice grinder. Toasting the spices and then grinding them really brings out the flavor.</p>
<p>I have the same problem with cilantro, too, galoisien. One thing you can do is make a dipping sauce by blending it with some lemon juice and a hot green pepper. It’s great with Indian food, or as a salsa. It keeps for longer than fresh cilantro.</p>
<p>Another thing is to dry your fresh green leafy produce before you put it in the refrigerator, so they don’t start to rot. Wrap it in a paper towel before you put it in the plastic bag, and it should last longer.</p>
<p>I recently learned how to make chai from scratch (your list of spices reminded me of it). It is unbelievably delicious. My D loves it.</p>
<p>star anise can be used in Chinese dishes such as Shanghai-style duck or pork. it’s a mixture of soy sauce, ginger, sugar and star anise.</p>
<p>Cumin is used in both South Asian and Middle Eastern dishes. I’ve made a chicken dish that involves browning chicken pieces, throwing in a generous amount of cumin, garlic, and sprinkling salt. When the chicken is ready, mix in some yogurt or sour cream.</p>
<p>I don’t know where you live, but it seems like you are out on your own for the 1st time. Here is what you do for right now. Go to Lowes or Home depot and buy fresh herbs plant them in a planter and put outside on you front porch or deck or wherever. You can kill 2 birds with one stone. The plants costs @1 buck each and all summer long you will have a pretty planter. Just add a Marigold flower in it, because birds/bunnies don’t like the bitter taste of the marigold and will stay away, plus it adds color.</p>
<p>I have a flower bed so I plant every yr, oregano, basil, cilantro, parsley and chives. Then at the end of the yr before the 1st frost, I cut them down, bring them in, band them up, hang upside down to dry. And then for the rest of the yr I have the same spices. All for @10 bucks. If you are in an area that is as low as NC, have 30 degree days, but really no snow, these plants will go dorment and come back again next spring as long as the dirt stays moist, even if you cut them down, just to pull them out. Basil will triple in size. Always trim it back, never let it flower.</p>
<p>Also never buy sam’s club sizes because spices do lose their punch if not used quickly.</p>
<p>My Mom also does this, but what she does is goes fruit picking, raspberries, and blueberries. Place a sheet of wax paper on a cookie sheet, lay out the clean berries, make sure they are dry. Place in freezer, when they are frozen pop them in a zip lock baggie. Then during the yr you can just grab a handful as needed and they are not mushy and one big clumps like they would be if you bought frozen from the store.</p>
<p>chives and oregano depending on your zone should winter over- same with sages and thymes.
parsley can reseed in our zone- but basil and cilantro are tender.
( and rosemary and lavender you don’t even have to remember to water)</p>
It’s SO good when it’s freshly ground.</p>