When Cooking Curry?!
When Cooking Curry?
I know that you should use fresh spices. I have had some knocking around for quite a while (okay, 2 or 3 years) and I know that that is a very long time. However, will they be of any use at all? they have all been in air tight glass jars, in the dark and cool, and are mostly whole (not ground). If I make a pakistani/bengali style curry with them, will I end up with tomato stew, or will they still have some life in them. I realise its not ideal, but I dont want to waste them. Ta
Answers: Good news is you can still use them.
My advice is to make sure first that they don't smell musty. Provided that they pass this simple test you can breathe a little more life into your spices.
First get a dry pan and put a mix of the spices on it and dry roast them until they start to just change colour. Then put them in a pestle and grind them to release the essential oils. Use the ground powder in your dishes they will help them along much better.
Good luck They should be ok. They may have lost just a little bit of flavour. Especially as they are whole spices. Once they are ground, they loose their flavour and pungency pretty quickly. As long as they are dry and not mouldy, they should be fine. You dont have to throw them out, but use them up quickly. You may need to add a little extra (maybe 1.5 or 2 tsp of cumin powder instead of 1 tsp cumin powder). Their potency has decreased over time. But otherwise they are fine to use.
Next time, if you dont use the spices fast enough, buy smaller quantities and store them in the refrigerator rather than the pantry. They will stay fresh longer that way and will not become stale. Always remember this....When cooking with spices don't pour directly from the bottle or jar over the food while it's cooking. The moisture from the heat will get steam into your bottles and ruin the flavor. Pour spices in a cup or your hand. Thsi might let u down but I'm not really sure. I was just happy 2 c the word curry in the ?. Some of my ancestors were from India and I absolutely adore some nice seasoned Guyanese style curry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (my Mom is from Guyana) http://www.forumpakistan.com/pakistani-k...
visit on this site u will found lot of recipies of Pakistani Dishes and other Dishes.
and also visit on this site of Chicken Curry Recipies
http://www.forumpakistan.com/chicken-cur...