If you love Indian food, you may wonder whether recreating the complex textures and delicate interplay of spices found in your favourite dishes is truly within your reach.

Do you relish intensely spiced curries and deliciously cool raitas, velvety chicken kurma and exotic Kashmiri lamb? Every Indian dish, whether eaten under the swaying coconut palms of Tamil Nadu or in the fiery deserts of Rajasthan, is flavoured with a distinct blend of spices. Mention Indian food and a mysteriously exotic cuisine that is colorful, hot and spicy comes to mind. There are hundreds of tastes and flavours to explore in Indian cooking. Within each region are local favourite ingredients influencing the cuisine. The aromatic barks, flowers, buds, roots and seeds which make up the spice lexicon together with the easy, fragrant home-made spice blends, play an important role in Indian fare.

When using spices, it is necessary to be judicious; add too much and they become overpowering. The sequence in which the spices are added to the oil and the length of time each spice is fried to allow its flavor to release are vital, too. It is the blending of spices, seasonings and flavourings that gives Indian food its character. Enter a spice market in India and you will be overwhelmed by the rich ambers, blacks and sages and the warm, acrid aromas which fill the air. Among the heaps of spices, you will find:

Some of the most expensive spices go into the making of garam masala and there are as many recipes for it as there are households in India.

CURRY LEAVES
Northern India relies on mint whereas the South uses the powerful-smelling curry leaves. No south Indian savoury is complete without this herb. It lends its lingering aroma to a dish but is not eaten.

CUMIN
Cumin can be tasted in the rich meat curries of Northern Kashmir and in the hot coconut curries of the south, in the exquisite vegetarian fare of Gujarat as well as in the river fish preparations on the Bay of Bengal releasing a strong musky flavor and aroma.

We get up close and personal with Chef Ravilal Bhandari at Viceroy to share with us how spices play in his dishes at popular Indian restaurant in Hong Kong, Viceroy. Excerpts from our very "spicy" conversation: "My personal favourite is the dish Murg Dhaniyawala at Viceroy. It is morsels of chicken delicately cooked in crushed dry coriander (called Dhaniya in India and thus gets its name), fresh ginger, fresh onion and yoghurt gravy with a touch of green chilies and turmeric and finished with fresh coriander leaves. This dish does not use Garam Masala, but has a dominant taste of coriander and ginger.

It is very important to add the fresh herbs and spices in the right quantity and at the right time of cooking (usually towards the end) to give each dish its individuality. For example the celebrated Lamb Rogan Josh tastes better if you add a spoonful of saffron infused with a warm water concoction into the curry just before serving. This will uplift the overall taste and also give it a nice color.

In Biryanis (the ever popular basmati rice dish cooked with a choice of meat or vegetables), I sprinkle fresh mint and rose water last to give it an exotic flavor and smell. The world renowned Chicken Tikka Masala will taste better if you sprinkle freshly ground fenugreek powder and thin shreds of fresh Ginger just before serving.

One of the most popular vegetarian dishes on our menu, Saag Paneer (freshly grounded spinach cooked in mild spices with homemade cubes of cottage cheese) gets its full flavour if tempered with crackling Ajwain seeds (also known as carom seed or Bishop's Weed which tastes like Thyme as it contains Thymol) and freshly chopped ginger in butter. "

After this stimulating education in using spice to enhance popular Indian dishes, we also managed to track down Chef Devi Singh from another famous Indian restaurant, Bombay Dreams, who gave us her enlightening take on the use of spices. According to him," Spices are incorporated in Indian dishes in a number of ways: as a marinade - meats, chicken or vegetables are marinated for long periods of up to 24 hours in ingredients such as yoghurt, ginger, garlic and a blend of spices, in the cooking process - spices are added to ingredients while being cooked, this enables the flavours to be infused through slow cooking and as a finishing touch - the spices are added as a finale to the dish when being plated. Spices are also included in sauces served on the side to provide the diner the option of adding flavours as required .

The quantities of spices are generally controlled by the chef as he becomes recognized for his particular style of cuisine. On many occasions these are adjusted to suit requests of diners, most Westerners preferring to have their dishes not so hot. 

Email to a friend

Recipient email address:


From:


Your email address:


Message: