What are the two things India is mostly famous for?
Well, one is definitely the Taj!!
On the second number, we can keep Indian cuisine without any doubt. Haven’t you noticed how people talk about Indian curries, biryani, and other Indian dishes. Even some countries have come up with dishes inspired by Indian recipes.
It is the enchantment of the spices that the Indian homemakers use in their pantries. These spices are not only great sources of enhancing flavours but also are loaded with nutritional value. Traditionally, chefs and homemakers pick individual spices and blend them in proper ratios to create cherishable delicacies. However, with life being so busy today, going a long way has become a bit troublesome. To deal with this trouble, one of the best ways is to make use of handcrafted spices such as chicken biryani masala, and others.
The Role of Spices in Indian Cooking
Spices and herbs play a major role in Indian cooking. Using the right spices and in the correct proportion is the ultimate art of getting great flavours. Here are some basic elements that you must consider while cooking Indian cuisine.
- Spices - A Nutritional Blend: The spices are also a source of nutritional value to keep you healthy. Carbohydrates, fat, sodium, protein, iron, calcium, Vitamins, dietary fibre, and sugar are some of the common nutrients available in spices that you use for Indian cooking. Usually, a perfect blend of spices will offer about 55.9 calories in about every 15 grams.
- Freshness: One of the major points to take care of is freshness. In most households, fresh spices are ground just before using them for cooking. Fresh spices enhance the aroma and bring out the real flavours in a dish.
- Understanding the Flavours: Indian cooking can be a tricky art because of the use of spices here. You will come across many such spices that may taste almost similar but will bring out different flavours once the dish is ready. One of the common examples is cardamom or elaichi. While badi elaichi (big-sized cardamom) is used in curries, biriyani, and rice-related dishes, choti elaichi (small-sized cardamom) is mostly used in desserts such as pudding.
- The Correct Blend: Indian cooking is not just about using just a few spices. In fact, it is a blend of several spices together to get the exact flavour. If you blend the right spices in the correct proportions, you will create lip-smacking delicacies. On the other hand, wrong choices can lead to disasters.
- Cultural Significance: In India, recipes are passed through generations. So, different regions and cultures may have different recipes for the same dish. Take the example of biryani. You will come across different variations of biryani in almost every Indian state.
Introduction of Handcrafted Blended Spices in Indian Cuisine
Today, when life has become so exhausting, it has become quite difficult for people to focus on the selection and blending of spices. It is a whole process of calculating the ratio of each spice and then freshly ground them to use in the dish to be cooked. To save time, many people today prefer to make use of blended spices. Selecting handcrafted blended spices will also offer you the same aroma and flavour that freshly ground spices will offer. So, how handcrafted blended spices create authentic Indian cuisine? Here are some potential answers.
- Handpicked Ingredients: The right type of spices are handpicked according to the dish to offer the same authentic taste that you wish to enjoy.
- Quality Control: One of the major factors that always impacts the aroma and flavour of any dish is quality ingredients. In the case of Indian cuisine, spices are the soul of the recipe. Hence, one cannot compromise the quality of these spices. Once the right spices are handpicked for a particular dish, the quality of each ingredient is checked to ensure that only the best ones go forward. It is because of such quality control that you can enjoy authentic Indian cuisine and even serve your guests with pride.
- Blended Appropriately: Understanding the correct blend of spices is highly essential to create a worthwhile dish. There can be several such dishes that can get tricky and difficult for beginners in Indian cooking. Handpicked blended spices can be a great help in such a way. For example, pav bhaji is one such recipe, in which cooking the bhaji is a tedious process. So, using pav bhaji masala is a great idea to come up with delicious pav bhaji for a treat.
- Freshly Ground and Packed: Spices also have a shelf life. You will notice that if you leave a particular spice in the open for a long time, it loses its fragrance. Well-reputed blended spices brands hence ground spices when fresh and packed immediately so that it does not lose their aroma and flavour. It reaches you in air-tight packaging so that you can enjoy great quality for your preparations.
The world loves spicy Indian food because it is not only spicy but also full of aroma. The history of spices and herbs can be traced to our ancestors. So, the recipes travel down through generations. Handpicked blended options such as shahi paneer masala and others help you gain authentic flavour and aroma without investing your time in sorting and blending the spices for the dish.