Indian kitchens have some secret magic in its kitchen which helps the human body to keep away illness and grow healthy. The secret behind the taste of every Indian food is obviously those spices. If you are an Indian, you will be well acquainted with those spices as without those our kitchen are incomplete. And if you are a non-Indian and find interest in Indian cooking, this is the best place you have landed upon. In this article, today I will be explaining you the most common 5 spices in every Indian kitchen. They are must in every dishes of Indian foods.
Know about the spices in every Indian kitchen
So, let’s start the exploration and let you find out the magic of the spices.
Turmeric
We have to start with this as no Indian dishes is complete without this ingredient. This is a yellow-coloured powder. It gives a beautiful yellow colour to your dish which makes it look delicious. Also consuming this, your body will get immune as it has high antiseptic property. Also, haldi doodh is very popular in every household in India as it has the benefits of helping you gain immunity, help to prevent getting cough and cold and also keeps your digestive system proper.
Coriander
This is another extensively used powder which is almost in every dishes. The powder is made from cumin seeds, which is also used as tadka for lentils or curry. Cumin or coriander is having soothing impact on the stomach and helps in faster digestion of the food. Also, it helps in getting rid of constipation as it is rich in fibre too. When cumin seed powder is taken with honey in the early morning, soon you will find constipation has disappeared. You can surely try this technique in case you are suffering from so.
Asafoetida
The common term which is used for this ingredient is hing. Without hing, some curries or dal tadka is fully incomplete. Tadka is the tempering of the curries after it is boiled. This particular ingredient has a lot of benefits on health as well. The very primary thing it provides is to boost up the digestion process. Also, Asafoetida can help to make your skin glow by preventing any acne growth. Harmful virus growth can be easily prevented with the consumption of a little bit of hing in your diet. For those who are suffering from a continuous cough or whooping cough, hing is just like magic for them.
Garam masala
This is a combination spices where you can find so many of spices all together- Cinnamon, green cardamon, black cardamon, black pepper, shah jeera, bay leaves, dried red chillies, cloves. All these spices have their own taste. Some are sweet in taste while others can be a bit fiery. Mixing them up and grinding them will make a powder which every Indian household must-have. Garam masala tempering at the last of every dish, especially vegetarian dishes is a must. Widely used in east India part, Bengali dishes are incomplete without garam masala. Also used in other parts of India, garam masala is many times used as whole like in yellow rice, sweet rice, biryani, etc.
Panch phoron
This is another combination spice- cumin, fenugreek seeds, kala jeera, mustard seed and fennel. All these are mixed together and is put in oil before making a curry. This makes a delicious flavour to the curry. Especially used in east Bengal foods, panch phoron is used all together in Bengali dishes a lot. The spices added here are separately used as a base in different parts of India too. Mustard seeds are a must for south Indian foods, jeera seeds are a must for north Indian foods. And the combination is used in east India foods.
So, if you are having these spices at your kitchen and oil and salt- you can make any Indian dishes. That would be no doubt healthy as well as delicious too. Check out the process of making basic Indian dishes like aloo Gobi, or lentils, or even the aloo sabji as yoru first dish with these basic spices.
Wrapping up the text
Coming to the conclusion, Indian kitchen has so many varieties of spices which has so many health benefits too. Each of them is for a different purpose. In Ayurveda, medicines are made from these spices and they can also give you instant relief too. Take some fennel seeds after foods as mouth freshener. When you are suffering from bloating, drink some cumin-soaked water. Well, all are available in yoru kitchen and no need to visit a drug store.
