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| Ingredients |
| Ajowan |
Ajowan is a bitter spice that has a strong aroma like thyme. It is used a lot when cooking pulses and is popular in Gujarat for use in vegetarian dishes. |
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| Allspice |
Allspice is the dried unripened fruit of the Pimenta dioica plant. The taste of allspice is similar to a mixture of cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper - hence the name allspice. Allspice originally comes from the Caribbean. The Jamaican strain of the spice is regarded as the best (one of the alternative names for allspice is Jamaican pepper) and most of the world’s supply comes from Jamaica with the other main suppliers being Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras. Allspice is a key ingredient in a lot of Caribbean dishes, including sausages as well as dishes such as curries. |
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| Almond |
The almond tree is native to the Middle East. The leading producers of almond nuts now are USA (mainly California) and Spain. The almond nut is usually eaten raw or used in sweets and desserts. |
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| Amchoor |
Amchoor is made from unripe mangoes. The unripe mangoes are picked from the mango trees and are then peeled, sliced and dried in the sun. The dried mango is crushed into amchoor powder. The powder is used in cooking to give a fruity taste to dishes and it is a key ingredient in chat masala. Amchoor is very acidic and is often used in marinades. |
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| Anise |
Anise is a plant that originated in the Middle East and is now widely grown in Europe, Asia and North America. Another name for anise is aniseed. The seeds and leaves have the taste and aroma of sweet liquorice and Indian anise has a slightly bitter taste. In India, anise is used mainly with breads and savoury dishes. The seeds are dry roasted and added to fish and vegetarian dishes. |
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| Aniseed |
See Anise. |
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| Asafoetida |
Asafoetida (sometimes called Hing) is a spice that is used extensively in vegetarian Indian curries. The asafoetida plant grows to a height of around two metres. The plant stems are from 5 to 8 cms in diameter at the base and sap is extracted from the stems. The sap hardens to a gum-like resin. This resin is difficult to grate and is usually pounded to a powder. The pure asafoetida powder is usually mixed with rice flour, gum arabic and turmeric to give the asafoetida powder that is used in cooking. Gum arabic is itself an edible resin and it is used as a food stabiliser. Asafoetida is very strong and should be used sparingly – follow the recipe and avoid the temptation to use too much. Asafoetida powder does not have a pleasant smell but this mellows in cooking, resulting in an onion/garlic taste. Asafoetida is widely used by Indian followers of Jainism who avoid eating onions and garlic. Asafoetida is sometimes hard to find in supermarkets and a substitute is garlic or onion powder. |
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| Aubergine |
Aubergine (also known as eggplant) is a vegetable that is native to India. There are lots of varieties with the most well known variety being like a large dark purple egg, about 15cm (6 inches) in length and 7.5cm (3 inches) wide. It is typically used in vegetarian dishes. |
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| Bay Leaf |
The Indian bay leaf comes from the cassia tree. A cooked bay leaf has a pungent aroma and has a mellow, spicy flavour. |
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| Besan Flour |
Another name for Chickpea Flour. |
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| Bhindi |
Bhindi is the Indian name for Okra. See the description for Okra. |
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| Brinjal |
Brinjal is the Indian name for aubergine (eggplant). |
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| Caraway |
Caraway is an herb in the parsley family. Caraway has a pungent spicy taste and an aroma that is also spicy with a hint of anise. Be careful of seeing the word caraway in recipes for Indian dishes because often the spice that is meant is cumin. |
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| Cardamom |
There are black and green cardamoms. The black cardamom is 4 times bigger than the green variety. Both varieties have a strong aroma and the aroma of the black cardamom is an essential part of garam masala. After saffron and cloves, cardamom is the third most expensive spice to buy. |
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| Carrot |
The humble carrot is a widely grown root vegetable. In the western world, carrots are best known as being orange in colour, but some varieties are purple, yellow, red and white. The carotene in a carrot is converted into vitamin A when the carrot is digested and carrots are a source of fibre and minerals. Carrots are used in a wide variety of curries and not just vegetarian curries. Julienne carrots are carrots that are very thinly sliced lengthways. |
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| Cassia |
Cassia is a spice that is often confused with cinnamon. In fact, the source, properties and tastes of cassia and cinnamon are very similar except that cassia has a more intense smell because of the higher level of volatile oil in cassia. Cassia is made from the bark of a tree. It is hard and woody, compared to cinnamon. Whereas cinnamon is fine and crumbly, cassia is coarser and stronger. This difference is easy to spot when buying the “sticks” but is more difficult when buying powdered spice – grinding cinnamon in a coffee grinder is easy but cassia is a lot tougher. To further blur the distinction between the two spices, cassia is often labelled and sold as cinnamon. |
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| Cayenne Pepper |
Cayenne pepper is supposed to have originated from the Cayenne region of French Guiana (French Guiana is actually a department of France even though it is situated on the north coast of South America). Cayenne pepper has a hot and pungent taste and should be used sparingly in cooking (cayenne pepper is stronger than paprika). |
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| Chana |
See chickpea. |
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| Chana Dal |
This is a type of yellow lentils that are bigger than ordinary yelow lentils. The lentils have a nutty aroma. |
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| Chickpea |
Chickpeas (chana) are great sources of protein and are used extensively in dal, roti and vegetarians curries. India grows more chickpeas than the whole of the rest of the world. |
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| Chickpea Flour |
Chickpea flour (chana flour) is made from ground split peas. It is a yellow colour and has a spicy, nutty aroma. It is used to make roti and snacks such as bhajis and pakoras, which are deep-fried snacks. |
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| Chilli |
Chilli (or chili or chille) is a contained in most curries, either being added by itself or being part of curry powder and garam masala. Chillies differ greatly in heat from one variety to another and there is a scale that measures the heat called the Scoville scale. The jalpeno chilli is 4,000 on the Scoville scale and is often considered the watershed for chillies – below this is mild and above is medium and hot. Because there is a wide variety of chillies, you should be careful when using them in curries. Try a single chilli to start with and then experiment by adding mores chillies until you reach the heat level that you want. Make sure that you also know the variety of chilli that you are using as the heat level between varieties can differ dramatically (for instance, the bell pepper is zero, jalapeno around 4,000, habaneros around 300,000 – the Guinness Book of Records gives the record to a Red Savina Habanero which measured 577,000). |
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| Chives |
Chives are a type of onion, and all parts of chives have a light onion taste. Cooking removes the taste from chives so chives are often used in salads and as a garnish. |
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| Cinnamon |
Cinnamon is the inner bark of the laurel called Cinnamomum Zeylanicum. Cinnamon is used in cooking in either powder or rolled bark form. Cinnamon is an essential ingredient in garam masala. |
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| Cloves |
Cloves have a warm aroma and a hot and bitter taste. Cloves are very strong spices and should be used sparingly because they can easily drown out the taste of other spices. In Indian cooking, cloves are a basic ingredient of garam masala and are often used in curry powders. |
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| Coconut |
The coconut is the fruit of a palm tree. The fruit is large and covered in a very hard shell. Inside the shell is a liquid (coconut milk) and the white, sweet, coconut flesh. |
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| Coriander |
Coriander is a very important Indian cooking spice that has a mild, slightly sweet, orange-like flavour that blends with lots of other spices. It is a basic ingredient of curry powder and garam masala. It is mainly used as a powder that comes from the crushed seeds. Coriander leaves are very aromatic and are often used as a garnish in Indian cooking. |
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| Cumin |
Cumin is a very important Indian cooking spice, probably only second to coriander. The combination of cumin and coriander gives Indian dishes their distinctive pungent smell. Cumin’s aroma is very aromatic, and pungent, and cumin has a sharp, bitter and warm pungent flavour. Cumin is a key ingredient of curry powder and garam masala. |
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| Curry Leaf |
Curry leaves come from a small deciduous tree. They are very aromatic and are used as an herb in cooking. The leaves give a mild spicy aroma with a hint of citrus and have a slightly bitter, lemon taste. The leaves are used in Indian cooking much like bay leaves and are often added to curries that contain fish or coconut milk. The leaves lose their potency very quickly so use fresh ones wherever possible. The leaves are typically fried in oil to release their fragrance and taste. |
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| Curry Powder |
Curry powder is a mixture of ground spices. Each spice is roasted separately for the optimum time and is then ground into a powder. The different spice powders are mixed to make the curry powder. Some people shy clear of using curry powder, preferring to always use fresh spices when they are cooking. But if you don’t have a lot of preparation time, there is nothing wrong with using curry powder which keeps well if stored in an airtight container. You can readily buy curry powder from most supermarkets if you don’t make it yourself. |
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| Dal |
See Pulses. |
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| Dill |
Dill is an herb that grows to about 60cm (2 ft) in height and has feathery leaves of around 15cm (6 in) in length. Both the leaves (sometimes called dill weed) and seeds are used in cooking. In Indian cuisine, dill is used to make curry powders, masalas and to flavour spinach and other leafy green vegetables. Dill seeds have a flavour that is similar to caraway seeds. Elsewhere, dill is well known for being used in pickling, such as in dill pickles and sauerkraut. |
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| Eggplant |
See Aubergine. |
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| Fennel |
Fennel is an aromatic spice that is used to give a slightly sweet flavour to foods. Fennel has an anise aroma and taste, although it is stronger than anise. Fennel is used to make garam masala and five spice powder. The refreshing taste of fennel has led to it being used as an after-meal breath freshener. |
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| Fenugreek |
Fenugreek has a mild, pungent aroma and a bitter flavour that has a hint of celery. In India, fenugreek leaves
(methi) are used as a vegetable (like spinach) and are also chopped up and mixed with dough for making naan bread. Fenugreek is a component of Bengali five spice powder (panch phoron). |
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| Galangal |
Galangal is a spice from the ginger family and the root looks like ginger root. It is used a lot in Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian cooking and has similar properties to ginger when used culinary dishes. For this reason, you can often substitute ginger for galangal if you can’t get hold of galangal. But you should be able to find galangal in shops and supermarkets that sell a complete range of spices. |
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| Garam Masala |
Garam masala is a mixture of spices that give flavour and aroma to a curry. It is mainly used with meat dishes and sometimes with chicken and rice dishes. It is very rarely used in fish and vegetable dishes because of the strong aroma. You can make your own mixture or buy it from a good food store. There are lots of recipes for making garam masala so try them all out until you find the flavour that you like best. |
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| Garlic |
A plant from the onion family. Garlic is used extensively in cooking and for medicinal purposes. Garlic has a pungent, spicy flavour that mellows with cooking. A full garlic bulb has many sections called cloves and the cloves are usually peeled and chopped when being used in cooking. |
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| Garnish |
A garnish is something that is added to a dish either to add an extra flavour or to decorate the dish (or both). Common garnishes in Indian cuisine are coriander, onions (raw and cooked) and sliced or chopped bell peppers. |
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| Ghee |
Ghee is clarified butter. Most people use oil nowadays because of the high cholesterol in ghee. You can use any type of oil (such as groundnut, sesame, sunflower or corn). Do not fry in ordinary butter because it burns very quickly. You can buy ghee in cans or tubs from an Indian food store, or make your own. To make ghee, melt unsalted butter and simmer for around 50 minutes until the solids turn brown – then strain the mixture through a fine muslin cloth and refrigerate. |
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| Ginger |
Ginger is a very common ingredient in Indian cooking. It is a plant root and is usually bought in pieces. You cut the outer skin off the ginger root before using it in cooking – most commonly you grate the ginger or chop it up into very fine pieces. Ginger has a warm, citrus like aroma and a hot flavour that has a bite. |
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| Gram Flour |
Another name for Chickpea Flour. |
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| Gur |
A dark, sticky, sugar made palm sugar. Similar to jaggery. |
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| Hing |
See Asafoetida. |
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| Jaggery |
A dark, sticky, sugar made from crushed cane sugar juice. Similar to gur. |
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| Kaffir Lime |
Kaffir, or makrut, lime is a lime that is originally from Southeast Asia and is now grown in such diverse places as Florida and Australia. The kaffir lime is green in colour and has the shape of a pear. The rind and leaves are both used in cooking, particularly Thai cuisine. The leaves give a particularly tangy citrus taste and are used in curries, soups and salads. The rind has a slightly bitter citrus taste and is grated and used in curry pastes and fish cakes. |
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| Lemon |
One of the main citrus fruits. Lemon juice is widely used in cooking where its acidity and sourness counters sweetness in a dish. Lemon juice has a sharp, tart taste and an average lemon yields about 3 tablespoons of juice. Lemon juice tenderises meat and is often in a meat marinade. The rind of a lemon (zest) is sometimes grated onto dishes as a tasty garnish. |
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| Lemon Grass |
Lemon grass is a tropical grass that is grown in India, southeast Asia, Africa and central America. The grass has a bulb-like root at the bottom of the stalk and is used like an herb. It does have a citrus taste like lemon. Lemon grass can be used fresh, dried or as a powder. The chopped stalk is used in soups and stews to add flavour but is hard to eat. If you are going to eat the lemon grass stalk then you should pound it into a paste before adding to the dish. Most people avoid eating the lemon grass stalk because it stays so fibrous. |
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| Lime |
A citrus fruit whose juice is used a lot in cooking where the acidity counters sweetness, much the same as a lemon. The rind (zest) is usually green and is sometimes used as a garnish. |
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| Mace |
Mace is the lacy covering of the nutmeg seed that is inside fruit of the nutmeg tree. Mace has a warm, rich aroma that has a hint of clove and pepper. Mace has a delicate, warm, bitter, taste that has a hint of lemon. |
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| Mango |
The mango is indigenous to Southeast Asia, including India and Pakistan. As well as being a great fruit to eat, mango is widely used in fruit smoothies, chutneys and pickles. |
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| Masoor Dal |
This is red lentils and are the most common lentils in north India. |
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| Methi |
Fenugreek leaves. |
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| Mint |
The word mint usually refers to spearmint or peppermint. Spearmint is the mint that is usually grown in your garden. Spearmint is mellow and refreshing with a pleasant flavour with a hint of lemon. Peppermint tastes of menthol and leaves a fresh aftertaste in the mouth. Both mints have a cooling effect and balance the warm spice tastes in curries. Typically, mint is used in raitas and chutneys. |
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| Mustard |
Mustard is a very pungent spice. The small seeds are usually yellow or black. When bought as seeds, mustard is often crushed into a powder (using a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder) that is mixed with water into a paste that is used in cooking or as a condiment. In Indian cooking, black mustard seeds are often quickly fried in oil to release the strong aroma and flavour. |
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| Nigella |
A spice that has an aroma like oregano and a bitter taste like cracked pepper. Used a lot with Indian flat breads and also with Indian vegetarian dishes. |
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| Nutmeg |
Nutmeg is the kernel of the fruit of the nutmeg (Myristica Fragans) tree. Nutmeg has a sweet, warm aroma with a hint of camphour. The nutmeg flavour is warm and bitter sweet with a hint of clove. The nutmeg kernels can be bought whole and kept for a long time in an airtight container. The nutmeg kernel is ground or grated into a powder when it is needed for cooking. The nutmeg powder quickly loses its flavour so you shouldn’t make too much powder at any one time. |
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| Okra |
Okra is a plant that has edible green fruits that are delicious in a curry. The fruits are also called okra and are often called ladies, or lady’s, fingers. In the southern States, it is also known as gumbo. A common Indian curry that contains okra is bhindi bhaji. The okra fruits are pods that can grow up to about 18cm (7 inches) but the best ones for cooking are around 7cm (about 4 inches) in length. The pods have a sticky interior and the okra seeds are in the centre. When you cook okra, you eat everything. And why are they called ladies fingers? Because they are about the length of a finger, are slender and smooth. |
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| Onion |
Onion is a basic ingredient of most curries with most curries having at least one onion in it. The onion is usually peeled, chopped and fried. Some dishes, such as dopiaza, are garnished with onion as well as containing onion. |
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| Paneer |
Indian cheese that is used in cooking. |
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| Paprika |
There are lots of types of paprika. Traditionally, paprika is made from red bell peppers. The peppers are allowed to dry and then the stalks and the inside veins are discarded. The pepper fruit and seeds are separated from each other and separately ground into powder. This process is done for different types of bell pepper and the resultant powders are blended to produce the required taste. Some peppers are dried over fires to give them a woody flavour. And some pepper powders are mixed with powders from the fruits of other members of the capsicum family to give a paprika with heat (bell peppers, by themselves, have no heat as recorded on the Scoville heat scale). So you can get hot, sweet or bittersweet flavours of paprika depending on the peppers used and even where the peppers were grown – the same plants produce different flavour peppers in different parts of the world. |
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| Passatta |
A tomato concentrate, a little like tomato puree. |
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| Peppercorns |
Peppercorns are the most commonly used spice. Ground pepper is used in cooking and, like most spices, should be freshly ground when needed. |
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| Pistachio |
The pistachio tree is native to the Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan area and nowadays is grown in a wide variety of hot locations such as Australia, California and New Mexico. The nut is often used in ice cream or as a garnish on sweets and desserts. |
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| Poppy Seeds |
The poppy seeds that are used in cooking either come from the Blue Poppy or the White Poppy. Whilst the seeds are very similar, the white poppy seeds are the ones that are used in Indian cuisine. Poppy seeds have a nutty flavour that is at its best when the seeds are toasted. It only takes a few minutes of toasting to release the full flavour and sweet aroma. The seeds are usually ground to a powder and used to thicken Indian curry sauces. Otherwise, the seeds can be sprinkled over dry vegetarian or meat dishes. |
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| Potato |
Potato is one of the most widely eaten vegetables in the world and the original potatoes came from South America. The largest producer of potatoes today is China. Potatoes are used in lots of Indian dishes with the most common being vegetarian dishes such as Aloo Gobi and Bombay Aloo. |
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| Pulses |
Pulses are called dal, in Hindi. Pulses include lentils, peas and beans. There is a lot of protein in pulses and pulses are used widely in vegetarian dishes. |
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| Rice Flour |
Flour made from basmati rice. |
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| Saffron |
Saffron is made from the stigmas of the Saffron Cricus and is the most expensive spice in the world. It is used to add colour and aroma to dishes. Saffron is usually bought as threads that are infused with water before use. |
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| Sambal |
Spicy relish, from Indonesia and Malaysia, with chillies as the main ingredient. |
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| Sesame |
Sesame seeds have a mild and nutty taste and smell. They are often used in baking and the oil from the seeds is excellent for use in cooking. |
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| Star Anise |
Star anise has an aroma like fennel and anise and has a warm sweet liquorice taste. Its main use is to flavour fish and seafood. |
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| Tamarind |
Tamarind is extracted from the pods of the evergreen tamarind tree. The tamarind pods have a brown, sticky pulp that is the extract. Once extracted, the pulp is squeezed into flat blocks. The blocks are processed to produce tamarind paste and concentrate. Tamarind does not have much of an aroma and has a sour, fruity taste. Tamarind is added to curries (such as vindaloo) as well as pickles and chutneys to make best use of the sour taste. |
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| Toor Dal |
This is a type of yellow lentils that have a nutty taste. |
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| Turmeric |
Turmeric is yellow and has a slightly bitter flavour. It is often used instead of saffron as a colouring for rice. |
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| Urad Dal |
This is split black lentils. |
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| Yeast |
Yeast is a type of fungus. In fact, there are over 1,500 varieties of yeast. The most common uses of yeast are for making alcohol, where yeast converts sugar into alcohol, and in baking, where yeast converts fermentable sugar into carbon dioxide. Fresh yeast can be hard to find for baking nowadays and dry active yeast is commonly used as a substitute. |
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| Yogurt |
Yogurt is a dairy product made from fermenting milk. Yogurt is added to a lot of vegetarian dishes and is a common ingredient in marinade. Yogurt is one of the best soothers for a mouth that is “burning” from hot chillis. |
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