While it’s exciting to dive right into the recipes…

It’s important to make sure that you have everything needed for the completion of the dish.  Always make sure to read the whole recipe through for timing, and also to make sure you have all the ingredients.  One of the ways you can make things easier on yourself is to have key spices on hand.  Lets take a look at some of the more common categories and specifics in each one.

Salt– Find a good sea salt to start.  (other nice ones to have are Kosher salt, Himalayan pink salt, black salt (a fine pink powder with a sulfur taste.) There are also a variety of other seasoned salts you can add to your spice drawer after getting the basic sea salt. Think garlic salt, celery salt, smoked salt, and various rubs that include salt.

Pepper– Invest in a pepper mill and some whole peppercorns.  this will add a level of freshness to all your dishes.  Try Tellicherry to start, and branch out to others as desired.

Dried Herbs– Fresh is always the best option, but at least have a jar of these for backup.

Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano, Basil, Dill, Parsley, Tarragon.  With these staples you can cover most of your herb needs.

Might be nice to add :  Freeze dried chives, Italian Mix

Baking Spices: Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Clove powder, Ginger powder.  Might be nice to add: pumpkin Pie mix and Allspice

Dried Savory Powders– Onion powder, Garlic powder, Chili Powder, Lemon pepper, Simple americanized Curry powder from the supermarket and Knorr herb seasoning are all ones I like to have on hand.

Indian Essentials– In our spice tin we stock the following: Cumin Seeds, Black Mustard Seeds, Turmeric, Coriander powder and Fenugreek Seeds.  I also always have on hand Asafetida and Cumin powder.

Other less used spices that are nice to have include :Amchur powder (Dry mango) Cardamom powder, Kokum, Dried Red chilies, Cinnamon sticks, Whole Cloves, Star Anise and Fresh Cardamom pods.

A great way to start with Indian Spices is to get a small bag of each the first time that you go to the Indian Market.  Invest in a spice tin, and use it for day-to-day cooking.  If you find that you go through one or the other more often, invest in a bigger bag depending on your storage space.  This way you have all the Indian essentials together, and it makes  gathering the spices much easier.  Indian recipes typically use a lot more spice!