Mixed spice blends are easy to make, and there are lots of recipes out there for them. But they vary widely in composition and quality.

Here is a guideline for making your own unique mix of ingredients.

Many recipes for baharat, for example, include cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ginger. So the first thing to keep in mind when you make your own blend is to use spices you like.

Composition:

In general I recommend using equal parts black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom seeds*, star anise*, and coriander seeds*. (The * indicates whole spices.) The proportions can vary by up to 25% without losing the essential character of the blend. For example you might use 2 1/2 parts pepper and 1 part each of the other ingredients. The important thing is not to use too much cinnamon or cloves since these flavors dominate. Cardamom seeds should make up at least half the total amount of spices used: they have a strong flavor which becomes much more subtle if they are mixed with other spices. Star anise is optional; it has a very strong licorice-like flavor which some people love but others find overwhelming. Coriander seeds are optional; they add a le

If you love to cook and eat Indian food, you’ll probably want to make your own spice blends. Making your own spice blends is one of the best money-saving tricks in the book and well worth the effort. But it can be a bit tricky to know what to do when you’re just starting out. That’s where I hope this site will help, by providing recipes for some of the most popular spice blends along with tips for making your own mixes.

Tasting Your Way Through Tonka Beans, Wormwood and Green Tea

A friend of mine who is a chef made a comment a few weeks ago about the really great thing about having her own spice blends on hand. She said that it was so much easier to mix up her own custom spice mixes than to buy them already mixed.

I realized that I had been buying pre-made spice mixes for years, and yet never actually made any myself. I found out how easy it was to make my own spice blends and have them on-hand all the time, and I thought that I would share how I do it here.

Taj Mahal Chicken (from The Best of Bridge Cookbooks) This delicious slow-cooked chicken dish is full of flavor and makes a great family meal served over rice or couscous. It can be prepared ahead of time and frozen until you are ready to serve it. Just thaw in the refrigerator before reheating in the oven or microwave.

This recipe uses garam masala, but you can also use your own blend of curry powder, chili powder, turmeric powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom for an even more intense flavor.

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (130 degrees C).

In a large skillet heat oil over medium high heat; brown chicken

I’ve been making my own spice blends for a few years now, and I love it.

There’s nothing like fresh spices to make you feel like you’ve really cooked something, and the difference between the aroma of fresh-ground cardamom and that of pre-ground powder is remarkable. It’s also great to be able to adjust the flavor of a dish to your own taste and needs. For example, if I’m making a lentil soup, I can use more ginger than in an Indian dal or split pea soup because lentils are easier to digest than either of those legumes.

Taste varies from person to person, so what tastes best to me might not taste as good to you. I think it’s best to start out with recipes, even if they’re just guidelines, and then tweak them until you get the results you want. That will give you the most consistent flavor. Spice blends are especially good for this since they’re already mixed and ready for cooking.

But sometimes you just don’t have time for that kind of experimentation, like when guests are coming over or you’re in a hurry or your refrigerator is empty (which is why I always try to keep a few jars around). If that’s when you need spice blends

For me, the quest for the perfect blend began with a visit to an Indian spice shop in London. I tasted a blend of spices that was so delicious I decided to try and make some myself. But when I got home, I couldn’t remember exactly what spices had been in it, so the first time was a little hit-and-miss.

It took me several attempts to come up with a good general recipe for mixed spice that works well with both meat and vegetable dishes and which doesn’t require any unusual or hard-to-find spices.

And since then I’ve tried other recipes and kept tweaking mine until I came up with one that I’m really happy with.

This is my basic recipe for mixed spice; if you want to add more heat or change the flavor profile, you can just add more of one or more of another of the spices listed below.

Spice blends are a great way to add flavor and variety to your cooking. They can be used in place of single spices, or as a starting point for creating your own recipes. A spice blend is basically a mixture of several different spices all ground together.

Why would you use a pre-made blend instead of simply buying the separate spices? First, it’s much cheaper. Second, sometimes it’s hard to find certain spices individually. Third, and most importantly, the blends taste better! Many people think that buying individual spices is more authentic, but in fact it’s often the blended versions that are more traditional and closer to what people in the area would actually cook with.

A good local grocery store should carry most if not all of the spices needed for the basic Indian spice blends (cinnamon and cardamom may be the hardest to find). You can also buy them online through amazon or other sites. Prices will vary depending on quantity and quality; I try to list high quality, but reasonably priced items whenever possible.The first step is to decide what kind of blend you want. Here are some possibilities:

Mixed Spice is a blend of dry spices, which can be added to any food for a distinctive flavour. The common ingredients are cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and coriander. Mixed spice blends are used in many cuisines around the world, such as those of India, England, China and the Caribbean.

Mixed spice is often used to make pumpkin pie spice. Some people even use it when cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. It is also an ingredient for making mulled wine. The English also have a tradition of adding mixed spice to Christmas cakes and puddings. There are many variations on the basic mix of spices.