Mamta's Kitchen - A Family Cookbook





Dry Roasting Spices

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On 16/02/2006 01:02pm, Tiny wrote:

Have just tried to dry roast spices for dhansak ( thanks Liza ) Still not sure of length of time /how you check to see if done without burning arrrghhh!!!!! any thoughts or tips

On 17/02/2006 10:02am, Mamta wrote:

Hello Tiny

You get a wonderful aroma of roasting spices arise from it that you can.t miss for anything else! Also, spices look a little darker, specially cumin.

Mamta

On 18/02/2006 03:02pm, Phil wrote:

I dry roast until the moment I see moke appearing. otherwise, dry spices burn

Phil

On 18/02/2006 05:02pm, kennyliza wrote:

The only thing I would say is when you dry roast spices, it has to be on a gentle flame otherwise it changes colour too quickly. If you take your eye off it for any length of time, it will burn, as I found out many times!

You'll know when it's ready when you get a lovely aroma wafting around the kitchen, and the colour has changed a couple of shades darker.

Also, allow it to cool completely before grinding, this helps the overall flavour. You'll soon get the hang of it. Ready made ground spices have that stale, dusty flavour because they've been sat on the shelves far too long. From what I remember from my days in India, all spices were roasted fresh for immediate use.

Liza

On 20/02/2006 11:02pm, AskCy wrote:

After watching a programme on the chemical reactions in food while cooking I'm now in two minds as to whether dry roasting helps or not...

The compounds in the food that are released into the air when you cook them are the same compounds that give it flavour...

so..that would seem to suggest that part of the flavour would be lost the smell in the air..

on the other hand, half of "taste" is down to your sense of smell.. so ?

personally I grind,crush etc all my spices and add them to my onions which I fry on a hot heat until they are begining to catch on the bottom of the pan, at which point I add my liquids to help remove them and stop it burning..

On 21/02/2006 06:02am, Mamta wrote:

I must admit, my garam masala is not pre-roasted, just like everyone else in my family. It works quite well for us.

Mamta

On 21/02/2006 04:02pm, kennyliza wrote:

I would beg to differ, if you don't dry roast first, you are selling yourself short in terms of flavour. Each spice is packed full of essential oils, which when GENTLY warmed up release their flavours beautifully, no matter whether half of it disappears into the ether, you are still getting a powerful punch of flavour. Do try it, it really does work.

Liza

On 21/02/2006 06:02pm, AskCy wrote:

Liza thats what I have heard since I started being interested in cooking, but as I said the programme made me think about it a bit more...

Think about it like this... you can dry fry the spices and they release those lovely smells/taste into the air.. or you can put them in "raw" and heat them with the food. If you do the latter surely the released vapour/flavour will be going into the oil/food rather than into the air ?

On 21/02/2006 08:02pm, kennyliza wrote:

I hear what you're saying, but I still feel that dry roasting helps. The process of dry roasting takes approx 5-7 min if you do it gently (which is the correct way). So the spices have all this time to release flavour, whereas when you just throw them in you are giving them far less time. You just have to put your nose into a jar of freshly ground, dry roasted spices to know what I mean. You simply do not get this if you grind raw spices. It makes the spices come alive. But hey, that's just my opinion!!

On 21/02/2006 08:02pm, Phil wrote:

Perhaps we just need to experiment with these alternative ideas.

I only dry roast Szechuan peppercorns, which are perhaps so pungent that it doesn't matter whether there is loss of taste.

Otherwise, I grind them dry, or stir-fry in oil and then grind, which is really pungent.

Phil

On 21/02/2006 10:02pm, Mamta wrote:

When you roast the spices for garam masala, prior to grinding them, they certainly release their flavour and smell lovely. The point though is whether this lets the flavour disappear into the ether too soon?

Even the un-roasted (ground) garam masala, which is what I almost always use, is heated through when added to a hot dish, releasing it's flavour. When I add garam masala, usually at the end of cooking, I close the lid and allow the flavours to rise and infuse back into the dish, rather than disappear through the exhaust.

When using 'whole' ingredients of garam masala, they are almost always added to hot oil in the beginning, which helps them to release their flavours into the oil and thus into the dish. I have known chefs and cooks being absolutely and equally sure about both ways being better :-)! I am sure both ways work.

If one of you conducts some experiments, do let us know.

Mamta

On 23/02/2006 10:02pm, AskCy wrote:

sounds like a job for "Mythbusters" (A programme on Discovery channel, who investigate odd things like this.. last night they were checking if buttered toast always drops butter side down... and it didn't..)

On 26/02/2006 06:02pm, kennyliza wrote:

One last word about dry roasting...

My husband put it well when he said to compare a slice of bread that has been toasted with a slice of bread that has been "fried". You get two completely different flavours. Similarly with dry roasting spices first or frying them in the curry itself. I'm not saying one is wrong and one is right, they are just completely different, and I suppose ultimately it depends on your preference, but mine is to dry roast first.

Liza

On 28/02/2006 07:02pm, AskCy wrote:

I actually make toast and then fry it so it doesn't absorb as much oil when I'm making fried bread.. still tastes the same...

On 26/06/2007 01:06pm, patricia kay wrote:

Have you tried to gently warm the whole spices in a little oil, Instead of dry roasting which can easily burn? I start by adding about a teaspoon of oil to the pan than adding the whole spices and stirring to coat them, then slowly begin to heat. the oil helps to stop it from burning and once the spices darken in colour , i grind them into a paste. this paste is then ready to use for your curries. just fry your meat with paste at beginning of cooking. I also suffered from burning spices during my earlier stages of curry cooking but i was given the above tip from the asian cookshop and found it works very well. It's worth a try!

On 26/06/2007 01:06pm, patricia kay wrote:

Have you tried to gently warm the whole spices in a little oil, Instead of dry roasting which can easily burn? I start by adding about a teaspoon of oil to the pan than adding the whole spices and stirring to coat them, then slowly begin to heat. the oil helps to stop it from burning and once the spices darken in colour , i grind them into a paste. this paste is then ready to use for your curries. just fry your meat with paste at beginning of cooking. I also suffered from burning spices during my earlier stages of curry cooking but i was given the above tip from http://www.theasiancookshop.co.uk and found it works very well. It's worth a try!

On 27/06/2007 07:06pm, AskCy wrote:

Patricia, thats similar in effect to what I do.

I grind up my spices and then add them to the oil that the meat and onions are cooking in, allowing them to "fry" for a few seconds/minute before adding any moisture (tomatoes, stock etc).

Steve

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