Spice Story of a Kitchen

Spices are integral part of any Indian kitchen. These are the alphabets of my kitchen chronicles. I grew up with the fresh smell of freshly brewed filter coffee ever morning. Then mom starts on the lunch, for school and office, with the fresh aromas of spices like sambar powder, pepper, asafoetida and coriander. The lingering smell would leave me waiting for my lunch break so I finally get to taste all that aromas.

In memory of many more mornings and dinners, here are some of the commonly used spices in mom’s kitchen and now my kitchen. As they say you think you got it all until you actually get your hands dirty. I have been learning about so many new spices as I start experimenting with food and spices. Spices like Kandan-Thipili that were widely used in good olden day cooking has now become this exotic Ayurvedic ingredients. Glad and thankful that I am able to find these gems and include in my daily diet.

The Indian spice box that we used to call anjala potti (many be because it has 5 compartments – anjala means 5 leaves/compartments and potti means box) is the a must have. It helps with storing the most common powders and spices handy for daily use. These days it comes with 7 compartment….. I have two of these one is filled with Mustard seeds, cumin seeds, Fenugreek seeds, Red chilis and couple of dals that is
commonly used for tempering. My second one is all about the masala powders like red chilli powder, turmeric powder, Cumin powder, coriander powder, is a colorful sight.

Now I have added a spice powder box for my daily use , Turmeric powder, Jeera powder, Coriander powder, Amchhor powder, chilli powder, hing powder and garam masala powder which is super handy with day to day cooking. The bright vibrant colors of these spice powders pumps life into any dish it touches.

Asafoetida, hing or perungayam is one of the treasured spice in my kitchen. It has a distinct flavor that is could be bit strong and better kept in a separate box. Here is the list of items I use regularly use in my cooking. Of course its based on my limited knowledge of Indian spices. This is a living list as I am always learning about a ingredient and its usage in cooking. I welcome any new suggestions and addition to this list from you all.

*English*	*Tamil*	*Hindi*
Asafoetida	Peringayam	Hing
Bay Leaf	Brinji elai	Tej patta
Black Cardamom	Karupu elakai	Badi elaichi
Black pepper	Karumilagu	Kali mirch
Caraway seeds	Shahi jeeragam	Shahi Jeera
carom seeds	Omam	Ajwain
Cinnamon	Pattai	Dal chini
Cloves	Lavangam/Krambu	Lavang
Coriander	Kottamalli	Dhaniya
Cumin	Jeeragam	Jeera
Curry leaves	Karuvepilai	Kadi patha
Dried fenugreek	Vendaya elai	kasuri methi
Dry mango powder	Amchoor
Fennel	Sombu	Sunff
Fenugreek	Vendayam	Methi
Ginger	Inggi	Adrak
Gooseberry	Nellikai	Aamla
Green Cardamom	Elakai	Hari elaichi
Holy basil	Tulasi	Tulsi
Kapok Buds	Ilavu/Marati Moggu	Shalmali
Kokum	Kokum	Kokum
Long Pepper	Arisi Tippili	Pipli
Long Pepper Root	Kandan Tippili	Pipli
Mace	Jaadipathri	Javithri
Mint	Pudhina	Pudhina
Mustard Seeds	Kadugu	Raai/Till
Nigella Seeds	Karunjeeragam	kala jeera
Nutmeg	Jadikai	Jaayaphal
Pomegranate seeds	Madulai	Anar dhana
Poppy seeds	Kasa kasa	Khas Khas
Red Chilli	kanja milagai	Lal mirch
Saffron	Kunguma Poo	Kesar
Sesame	Ellu	Till
Star Anise	Anashuppu	chakr phool
Stone Flower (Rock Flower)	Kalpaasi	Pattar Phool
Tamarind	Puli	Imli
Turmeric	Manjal	Haldi