Indian spices: a starter kit for your kitchen in Poland

A starter kit of Indian spices is a few whole spices (cumin, mustard seeds, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon) and a few ground ones (turmeric, coriander, chilli, garam masala). With these you can cook most everyday curries, dals and rice dishes. Ready-made blends, such as butter masala for paneer butter masala, help when you want to cook one dish quickly. In Polish, Indian spices are przyprawy indyjskie; the Polish name of each spice is in the tables below.

Whole spices: the base of the flavour

Whole spices are fried at the start of cooking in hot oil or ghee. This is the tadka. The fat takes on their aroma and carries it through the dish.

Indian bay leaf (tej patta) comes from a different tree than the European bay leaf and smells more of cinnamon. If you do not have it, an ordinary bay leaf (liść laurowy) works too.

Be careful with cumin in a Polish shop: cumin is kmin rzymski, while kminek is caraway. We explain the difference in our guide to cumin (jeera). It is the first spice to buy.

Ground spices: colour and depth

Ground spices go in after the onion, garlic and ginger. Fry them for 20–30 seconds before you add tomatoes or water. Raw, they taste chalky; burnt, they are bitter.

More about turmeric and its Polish name in turmeric (haldi) in Poland.

Garam masala: the blend for the end

Garam masala is a blend of warm spices: usually cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, cumin and coriander. Every producer and every family has its own mix. It usually goes in near the end of cooking, a teaspoon per pot, to keep its aroma. It does not replace turmeric, coriander or chilli; it adds to them.

Ready-made blends: butter masala and others

Ready-made blends are mixed for one dish. They help when you do not have all the spices or want the same taste every time:

• paneer butter masala / butter masala: for a mild, creamy tomato sauce with butter and cream, with paneer or chicken;
• tandoori masala: for a yoghurt marinade for oven-baked chicken and paneer;
• chaat masala: a sour and salty sprinkle for fruit, salads and snacks;
• chana masala, biryani masala, sambar masala: for one dish each.

The pack usually has a recipe. The first time, follow it exactly.

A simple starter kit

If you are starting out, buy:

1. whole cumin seeds,
2. mustard seeds,
3. turmeric,
4. ground coriander,
5. chilli powder (or mild Kashmiri chilli),
6. garam masala,
7. one ready-made blend for your favourite dish, for example butter masala.

With this kit you can cook dal tadka, chana masala, aloo gobi and jeera rice. Later add cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, asafoetida and dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi).

How to store spices

Keep spices in closed jars, in a dark cupboard, away from the cooker. Whole seeds keep their aroma longer than ground spices. Buy only as much ground spice as you will use in a few months. A spice that has no smell when you rub it between your fingers will not add flavour to a dish.

Where to buy Indian spices in Poland

Little India sells ground spices and whole spices, and among the blends MDH garam masala and Suhana paneer butter masala. Little India has shops in Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław and Gdańsk and ships orders across Poland.