While our Daadi’s and Naani’s always taught us that a freshly ground spice adds a lot of flavor to the food, we are still moving towards pre-grounded spices each day. Yes the schedule is hectic for us, we have a job to cover, we have tiffins to pack and also make our bed, despite that if we are able to make one meal a week with freshly ground spices it will activate our taste buds and we would crave more of that each day.
The process of grinding spices at home ensures it is free from any additives, preservatives and we are also sure that the whole spices were of great quality. It also allows you to customize the ground size to your liking.
Lets get into the step by step process of grinding the spices from its original form:
Toast your spices for maximum flavor:
- Preheat your skillet – the best type of skillets are one with iron base or the one having a heavy bottom
- Add in spices: Add your spices, the best thing that can be done is roasting each spice individually as each of them will take different time to roast, however this is just a suggestion, one can always roast all the spices at once.
- Remove from heat: This is a tricky part! You would want to toast the spices until it is slightly darkened but not burnt. Do remember that if you remove the same from heat it would still be hot for some time and toast for more
Grind your spices
Now this is a fun part, you can either choose the traditional method of grinding spices one that involves a mortar and pestle while the other is an electric grinder. The benefits of mortar and pestle is that it will easier to control the texture of the spices whereas in electric grinder we wont have that much of control on the texture.
TIP for electric grinder: Now it is very enticing that we take the whole spices and put it in a blender for 2 to 3 minutes until it is powdered, but this will ruin your first step. When the spices are added to the grinder, remember that you do not power on the motor for more than 5 seconds at a time, the reason is the heat of the grinder will also add to the already toasted spices and may toast the spices even more.
Store your spices!
- Choose the right container: Now that is nothing but using a dry container and having an air tight seal to preserve freshness.
- Right location: “Keep them away from direct sunlight”. This disclaimer is often written in almost all the food items we bring in, but never follows through it. However, it will be the best precautionary step you can take to preserve the freshness of your spice.
- Consider refrigerating: If you have grounded your spice in huge amounts, make sure to refrigerate it. It will last way longer than usual.
This is all I want to talk about on grinding spices. If you are keen on having a more delicious meal than usual consider grinding spices at home. For more on daily lifestyle, cooking please follow my blog
