Spice | Sybaritica

At one time, a ‘Madras Curry’ was a standard on Indian restaurant menus in the west, and was also a fairly common recipe entry in Indian cookery books. It seems, however, to be a little less frequently encountered these days and this is perhaps because the Indian City of Madras (whence the name) is now known as Chennai, and the eponymous curry was probably more of an Anglo-Indian, rather than a purely Indian creation. Whatever the case, the Madras Curry is still something of a classic and well worth adding to one’s culinary repertoire.

In my research of a wide variety of spice blends, I have found that the Madras Curry blend is the closest to what most westerners would call the ‘curry flavor’ and the typical ingredients are much the same as found in the generic ‘Curry Powder’ you can find in almost any supermarket. The one major difference between the two, as far as I have seen, is that the generic type tends to be high in Turmeric and low in Chili, while, in a Madras blend, the reverse is usually true. In this post, we will have a quick look at the general composition and then I’ll provide a fairly straightforward version that you can use as a starting point for your own culinary creations… Read more

I have regularly had a jar of freeze-dried Chives from Litehouse™ in my cupboard for some time now and, at present, I also have jars of their Sage and Parsley as well. Those products are pretty decent, if not especially remarkable, and, when I came across a jar of their freeze-dried Lemon Grass I wanted to see if this might be a useful substitute to have on hand when the fresh article is unavailable… Read more

My wife confessed to a hankering for ribs and I was happy to oblige her. I was feeling a little adventurous though and so, instead of one of my standard preparations I decided to play around with a vaguely Indian blend involving of Cumin, Coriander, and the maple-warmth of Fenugreek Seed . I am calling the result ‘Indian Rubs’ and, though it needs a little work, perhaps some of you might like to play with the basic theme… Read more

I have had a number of ongoing spice blend projects underway for quite some time now. This summer, I continued on with a steak spice recipe I have been working on but I am still not quite satisfied with as yet. I took as a starting point two previous blends I have featured in previous posts; the first being one I used for an Oven-baked Beef Ribs recipe (which I liked very much), and the second a rather exotic blend for Barbecue Beef Ribs (which I didn’t care for nearly as much). The work in progress thus far takes a little for each but it needs something else so I thought I would share my progress thus far and invite some input from my readers…  Read more

Hardcore fans of Asian food will likely recognize this brand and product, but if you haven’t come across it yet it really (really) bears trying. I have made, and regularly make my own Sambal Oelek, but this beats mine hands down and I can unstintingly recommend it as the best, and most versatile, commercial chili paste on the market… Read more

Most everyone with even a passing acquaintance with Indian cuisine will be familiar with the very popular Vindaloo style curry, and regular readers will recall the loose interpretation of the basic dish I made with my Gomanchala Pork Curry some time ago.

The commercial Vindaloo spice powder you see pictured above was a gift from a visitor this past summer. I have not come across the Dunya brand before (they are an Indian company) but I note that their packaging is very similar to that of Sharwood’s, whose Tandoori Masala I reviewed last year. In any event, I thought that the best way to test this product would be to try out the recipe the manufacturers thoughtfully provide on the label of the container…  Read more

Not long ago, a visitor from down south brought my wife a ‘care package’ of various Indian food products which included the commercial Tandoori spice blend you see pictured above. I have not come across this particular brand before and I thought I might test it with a very simple Tandoori Chicken preparation on my barbecue… Read more

Ajowan Seed, also spelled ‘Ajwain’ sometimes called ‘Carom Seed’ in English, is used occasionally in the cuisines of Iran, Afghanistan and East Africa, but is most widely used in Indian cookery, particularly in the Northeastern states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. It is not a spice that you will come across in many western spice cabinets, nor on the shelves of mainstream supermarkets, but you can find it fairly easily in Indian or Middle-Eastern groceries or online, if you don’t mind shopping for spices that way. I certainly wouldn’t say that this is an essential spice in my collection, but it does have its uses and is worth looking for… Read more

Celery is one of those ubiquitous grocery products that can usually be found in the crisper drawers of most refrigerators in western kitchens but celery seed, for some reason, is far less popular or well known. For most people, the seed (actually the tiny fruit of a particular wild variety of celery rather than the thick-stemmed sort usually eaten in the west) is encountered most commonly in some Bloody Mary recipes, or else in the Old Bay Seasoning used for seafood in the North-eastern United States. This is unfortunate, however, as the spice, being not only cheap and easy to find, is very versatile and well-worth having on hand… Read more

Chili pastes of one stripe or another are common in many cuisines. Some are fairly straightforward, containing little more than chili peppers, while others are considerably more complex and include a variety of other ingredients, such as garlic, ginger, or other spices. Not that many years ago, the Indonesian variety of simple chili paste known as Sambal Oelek (or Sambal Ulek) was relatively unknown in the west but this has changed in the last decade or so and one brand or another can be found in most supermarkets nowadays, with the Cock Brand, by Huy Fong Foods (makers of the popular Sriracha Sauce), being one of the most common.

Sambal Oelek is a very versatile paste that keeps well and is very easy to make. Strictly speaking, the basic version is nothing more than ground fresh chilies, but salt is also generally added, [particularly if the resultant paste is not to be used immediately). If you scan for recipes on the Internet, you will find many that include other ingredients as well but, since there are a myriad of Indonesian Sambals, all with different names, those that contain additional spices are not, in my opinion, true Sambal Oeleks. Vinegar (or even lime juice) is often included, particularly in commercial preparations, but, while this does enhance the shelf life somewhat, it also changes the finished product considerably. It also, to my mind, detracts from and diminishes the fresh chili taste, which, with just a little salt to act as a preservative, keeps surprisingly well in the fridge. For the version I will be sharing with you here, we will be using nothing more than fresh red chilies, salt, a little sugar to round out the tastes as the  pastes ages, and some oil for grinding and preservation… Read more