Spices Part 2: How to Toast & Grind Them
Handle with care to bring out the best in your spices....
I have often hoped that we are on the brink of a fresh spice revolution similar to the fresh coffee revolution of the early 90s. Remember when we all tolerated instant coffee? Once people got used to the flavour of freshly ground there was very little going back (unless you are my partner, who loves a cup of instant…)
There’s no two ways about it - shop bought pre ground spices just do not have as much fragrance, flavour & intensity as those that are freshly ground, as close to being cooked with as possible. The process of toasting & grinding spices also adds hugely to the cooking experience - there is much joy to be had in the aromas that these processes create. And it’s not as arduous or complicated as some might think…
When you buy a pre ground spice in a shop you have little to no idea of the provenance - when it was ground, where it was ground, what has happened to it since it’s been ground… When teaching cookery workshops I always demo grinding a few coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar. It’s my favourite spice to choose to illustrate the difference between pre ground & freshly ground. Coriander is such a lemony, zesty spice - people are always surprised by the sweet citrus notes the crushed seeds give off. When baking lemon drizzle cake I sometimes add a teaspoon of crushed coriander to the batter and/or syrup. The seeds in the batter steam their flavour into the sponge in a delightful way.
Gentle care is necessary when toasting spices - this goes for cooking them whole in hot oil or toasting them whole in a dry pan before grinding them. You need heat, yes, but it needs to be carefully monitored heat - not so hot that you will burn the treasures, but hot enough to encourage them to give of their oils, which is the bit that you will smell as they toast and the bit that will mellow and deepen the flavour as it gets cooked.
Never turn your back on a pan of spices over heat - they warrant your constant attention. Use a heavy bottomed pan, one that will absorb the heat and distribute it evenly, A frying pan is the preferred type of pan as the size will allow the spices to spread out as they toast - a cast iron frying pan like this is ideal although more affordable aluminium or other pans will do just as well - you will just need to be a little more vigilant with the heat if it is a light weight pan. Something like a Le Crueset saucepan will work well so long as it is of a size that the spices can lie evenly across it without being too crowded.
First thing to do is to weigh out your spices for toasting. These can all go into a bowl together as they will all be toasted together. Once your spices are ready put the empty pan over a medium high heat - you want the pan hot when the spices hit it. Add the spices and immediately start to stir them with a wooden spoon, or shake the pan gently - get a gauge of how hot the pan is - you don’t want the spices to toast and darken too quickly, you want to encourage the oils to relax out of the spice seeds to then be cooked, you don’t want to simply singe the outer shell. Pretty quickly you will begin to smell the spices. Along with your nose you want to use your eyes to look for a colour change - focus your attention on the paler seeds, the fennel, coriander, fenugreek. You absolutely do not want to burn the spices, they will quickly become bitter and unpalatable - fenugreek is the worst for this, it has a high oil content and can catch and burn very easily which is disastrous in a blend as it will taint all of the other spices and the whole lot will need to be thrown away. Have you ever had a curry with a bitter after taste? Someones burnt some fenugreek…
Toasting the spices takes about 4-3 minutes in total. Once they have begun to colour and smell delicious, I tend to turn off the heat and allow the residual heat in the pan to finish off the job, giving the pan the odd shake every now and then for good measure. You will develop an instinct for when your spices are ready - they will have gone a few shades darker than when raw and will smell delightful.
Raw spices are just as delicious as roasted - there are many blends made with raw spices, notably Ras el Hanout. So don’t be surprised if you come across a recipe for a curry powder or other blend that doesn’t call for toasting.
If you are toasting seeds before grinding, always leave them to cool before processing them. This is more of the gentle behaviour that is called for. Hot spices are vulnerable, whacking them into an electric device and blitzing them is not an act of kindness, they will continue to give of their oils if you do and you will get a very slightly tacky blend rather than the fine dry powder you want.
Kit in the kitchen is always useful and you will need some in order to grind spices. A pestle and mortar is an entry level grinding instrument - for spices you want a granite or other course stone one. Wooden and ceramic pestles are for making pastes and you will struggle to get purchase on and grind any spices with one like that. I love my one, which was a gift, but which is very much like this one here from Lakeland. The heaviness of stone is also helpful when grinding spices as you don’t want it all moving about under the pressure of all that pounding and grinding! When grinding spices in a pestle and mortar it can be helpful to add a small amount of rock or crystal salt to the mix - this will add an extra abrasive element and so help the grinding process.
I use my pestle and mortar when I want to keep a bite in my spices, not when I am making a blend such as a curry powder. For blends I reach for an electronic grinder, and there are many options out there. I very much recommend investing in an electric spice grinder if you are keen to cook a lot with spices, it makes the whole process so much easier, thereby ensuring that you are more likely to do it more often.
If you already have a Ninja or Nutribullet or some other standing smoothie maker or blender, these have great blades and good motors for grinding spices. You will want to buy a new cup for using just with spices though as any that you use will become scratched and tainted - some spices taint worse than others - cumin and turmeric are particularly bad.
Equally you can use a coffee grinder for spices, but it will need to be a separate coffee grinder from the one you grind your coffee in, for the exact same reasons. I started with a Krups coffee grinder, which did a great job until I was grinding some cinnamon bark that got stuck under the blade and jammed it till it went bang! The other issue with coffee grinders is that they tend to be difficult to clean as the electric mechanism and the grinding pot are part of one unit meaning that you can’t pop them in the sink or dishwasher. The best way to clean a grinder like this is to add a handful of raw rice and grind it to a flour - in the process of breaking down the rice will get into every corner of your grinder pot picking up every trace of spices. You end up with some spiced rice flour too for the next time you want to thicken up a curry or sauce.
Currently I use this neat bit of kit for smaller quantities of spices. It’s Argos own brand ‘Cookworks’ and does a great job. The bowl is fully detachable so it’s easy to keep clean plus its’ affordable at around £26 and much smaller than a Nutribullet or equivalent, if you are tight on space in your kitchen.
Below are some recipes to get you started - Garam Masala, a staple in Indian kitchens and used globally now because of its’ mild warm flavours - you can read more about it here.
Under the Garam Masala recipe are recipes for Roast & Raw Sri Lankan Curry Powders - as the names suggest one is toasted the other not, the only other difference is that the Raw has a little turmeric. It is a good experiment in understanding the difference in flavour between raw and roasted or toasted spices to make both of these blends - it’s remarkable how different they are. Traditionally Roast Curry Powder is used with meat & fish, raw with vegetables.
Spice blends if stored in an air tight jar in the dark will stay flavoursome for 6 months, although it’s always best to grind in small quantities so they are as fresh as they can be.
When you scroll down you will see that I have put these extra recipes behind a paywall - also found there is a discount code for paid subscribers who would like to attend a workshop with me to get 15% a booking. Little incentives like this will come up from time to time here, they are also little ways of thanking my paid subscribers for their support for my work.
The next free issue of Spice: Cooking with Whole Spices will be out in March.
Happy cooking, and as always I would love to hear how you get on.
Chloe x
Garam Masala
2 tsp black cardamom seeds (from about 40 pods)
1 tsp cloves
2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
4 large pieces of mace
2 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp black pepper
Heat a thick bottomed frying pan on a medium heat. Add all the spices and toast, shaking occasionally, until the seeds begin to release their oils and take on a little colour. This will only take a few minutes and once you begin to smell the aromatic oil you will know that they are done.
Remove from the heat, allow to cool and grind to a fine powder.
Store in an air tight jar and consume within 6 months.
Cookery Workshop Discount Code:
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Cook Along With Spices to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.