Indian Spices

Okay the reason why our food taste soooo good is because we use a lot of spices to make it tasty. We have LOADS of secret ingredients. These are some of the few I use in my cooking.

1. Ginger-Garlic Paste
This paste helps a lot in bringing out the taste of each and every one of the ingredients you put in your meal.
This mixture sparks once it hits the wok so be careful not to get hit in your eye. Stir this as soon as you put it in.

How to make it: One large ginger, peeled clean. 2 large bulbs of garlic peeled clean as well. Put BOTH of them in a blender, add 3 cups of water and well...blend.
Blend it till becomes a thick yellow paste. You may make enough to fill a normal-sixed tupperwear. This mixture can be refrigerated for one month.

2. Dried Chili Paste
This is the culprit that makes Indian food deliciously spicy. Take 3 handfuls of dried chilli and soak them in warm water. Add 1 tsp of ground turmeric. The idea is to make the chillis soft and turmeric acts as germ-killer. Dried chili may sometimes have small bugs in them so soaking them in warm water kills them off. For hygenic purposes. ^^
After the chilis have become soft, drain the chilis and put them in the blender. Add 3 cups of water and blend till they become a paste. After blending, remove the blender lid and let the paste 'breathe'. Blended chili paste makes the eyes watery. Hence, let it breathe for 2 minutes. You can make enough to fill a normal-sized tupperwear. This paste can be refrigerated for one month.

3. Before cooking chicken and fish, marinate them in 1tbspn of turmeric, fennel and cumin powder. This gives taste to the chicken and fish.

4. Always use cinnamon, cloves and star anise after heating oil. This is to bring out nutrition in the food.

5. Curry leaves are great with 'dry' foods like fried rice and noodles.

6. You can use butter as oil.

7. Coconut milk makes curries thick.

8. After eating a spicy dish, always take yoghurt afterwards.