About Indian Spices
Indian is known the world over as The Home of Spices. The term spices applies to natural plant or vegetable products or mixtures in whole or ground form, which are used for imparting flavor, aroma and piquancy to the food items. Spices are also being used within the country for flavoring foods and in medicines, Pharmaceutical, perfumery, cosmetics and several other industries. The fame of Indian spices is older than the recorded history. It is believed that the Parthian wars were being fought by Rome largely to keep open the trade route to India. It is also said that Indian spices and her famed products were the main lure or crusades and expeditions to the East. The people of these times used spices, as we do today, to enhance or vary the flavors of their foods. Spices are made up of many parts of a plant such as fruits, roots, bark, flowers, leaves etc. Some spices add flavor to otherwise tasteless and bland food. Some are used for the beautification and garnishing of the food.
Turmeric whole and powder
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20 °C and 30 °C and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive. Plants are gathered annually for their rhizomes, and propagated from some of those rhizomes in the following season. Turmeric is the dried root of curcuma Longa. It has a tough brown skin and bright orange flesh. It is a major ingredient in curry powder.
TAMARIND
Tamarind is a sticky, sweet-sour fruit that grows in long, bean-like pods.The fruit is mixed with sugar and dried in strips to make candy, or rendered into paste. Tamarind paste is a staple of Indian, Thai and Vietnamese cooking. It is used in many barbecue sauces.
NUTMEG
The Nutmeg tree is evergreen,with oblong egg-shaped leaves and small,bell-like light yellow flowers that give odd a distinct aroma when in bloom.The fruit is light yellow with red and green marking,resembling an apricot or large plum.
DRY GINGER
Ginger produces clusters of white and pink flower buds that bloom into yellow flowers.Because of its aesthetic appeal and the adaption of the plant to warm climates,giner is often used as landscaping around subtropical homes.
FENUGREEK SEEDS
The name Fenugreek or foenum-graecum is from latin for"Greek hay".The plant's similarity to wild clover has likely spawned its swedish name:"bockhornsklover" as well as the German: "Bockshornklee",both literally meaning:ram's horn clover".
FENUGREEK
The name Fenugreek or foenum-graecum is from latin for"Greek hay".The plant's similarity to wild clover has likely spawned its swedish name:"bockhornsklover" as well as the German: "Bockshornklee",both literally meaning:ram's horn clover".
DILL SEEDS
Dill originated with an area around the Meditteranean and South of russia.Although several twigs of dill were found in the tomb of amenhotep II,they report that the earliest archeological evidence for its cultivation comes from late Neolithis lake shore settlements in Switzerland.
CUMIN SEEDS
Cumin is native to Egypt and has been cultivated in the Middle East, India, China and Mediterranean countries for millennia. Throughout history, cumin has played an important role as a food and medicine and has been a cultural symbol with varied attributes.Cumin has been in use since ancient times. Seeds excavated at the Syrian site Tell ed-Der have been dated to the second millennium BC. They have also been reported from several New Kingdom levels of ancient Egyptian archaeological sites.
CORIANDER SEEDS
Ironically, the history of coriander begins with its strong bug-like smell rather than its medicinal or culinary qualities. Coriander is believed to be derived from the Greek word koros which means insect or the Greek word koriannon, meaning bug. The specific name refers to its cultivation in gardens. Taken together, the full scientific name calls coriander ‘the cultivated buggy-smelling plant.
DRY CHILLIES
Chili peppers have been a part of the human diet in the Americas since at least 7500 BC. There is archaeological evidence at sites located in southwestern Ecuador that chili peppers were domesticated more than 6000 years ago, and is one of the first cultivated crops in the Central and South Americas that is self pollinating.
CELERY SEEDS
Celery leaf stalks and roots are used around the world as a vegetable. Celery seeds are used as flavoring or spice, either as whole seeds or as celery salt, ground and mixed with salt. It is an important ingredient of Indian and European cuisine. It is valuable in weight-loss diets. The common belief is that celery yields negative calories because it is very difficult for humans to digest
CARDAMOM
Cardamom of commerce is the dried ripe fruit (capsules of cardamom plant) often referred as the “Queen of Spices” because of its very pleasant aroma and taste. Cardamom is a perennial, herbaceous, rhizomatous plant. Based on the nature of panicles, three varieties are recognized viz. Malabar with prostrate panicle, Mysore with erect panicle, and Vazhukka with semi erect panicle. Plants are of medium size (2 to 3 mtr height) with pubescent leaves (on the dorsal side) and fruits globose in the case of Malabar, whereas plant robust (3 to 4 mtr height) with leaves glabrous on both sides with ovoid capsules in the case of Mysore. Vazhukka variety is a mix of both the above in physical characteristics.
BLACK PEPPER
Black Pepper & Powder is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceac,cultivated for its fruit,which is usually dried and user as a spice and seasoning.Black Pepper & Powder in native to India and is extensively cultivated there and elsewhere in tropical regions.
AJWAIN SEEDS
Ajwain originated in the Middle est,possibly in Egypt and the Indian subcontinent, but also in iran and Afghanistan.It is sometimes used as an ingredient in berbere,a spice mixture favored in Eritrea and Ethiopia.