Traditional Indian Recipes - Treasure trove of spices

The best part about Indian cuisine is the treasure trove of spices and condiments in the kitchen that can help us remain free from illness to some extent because of their medicinal properties. Traditional Indian recipes call for ginger, black pepper, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamoms, cloves, nutmeg, mace, carom seeds, turmeric powder, asafoetida, fenugreek seeds and fennel seeds very effectively. This list of spices is incomplete but only due to space constraints!

Indian cuisine is renowned the world over for the masterful use of spices in any regional cuisine, providing a synergy and balance in taste and flavour. Spices are a very convenient, and of course the quickest, way of incorporating the six Ayurvedic tastes - sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent - at every meal.

Let us dwell on the benefits of a few of them to understand their medicinal prowess. Spice seeds like cumin and coriander provide cooling properties and also aid in digestion. Coriander is also considered helpful for promoting respiratory system, health and enhancing natural defense against allergens. It is also a detoxifying spice, helping to cleanse the body from the cell up. Eating a teaspoon of fennel seeds after a meal helps enhance digestion and freshens the breath. Fennel is also helpful for facilitating cleansing. Turmeric as a spice infuses Indian dishes with a rich golden colour and has long been revered by Ayurvedic healers for its diverse and powerful healing properties. Turmeric is a natural preservative. It is anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and antibacterial. Turmeric contains iron and potassium. It is clear that spices are revered in the Ayurvedic tradition because of the therapeutic value they bring to a meal.

Almost every dish in Indian cuisine is enhanced by the aroma, flavour and healing properties of spices. In Northern cooking we see stress on the use of cumin, coriander and ginger. Try Aloo Gobhi. In the cuisine from the hot desert land of Rajasthan we see asafoetida, ginger, red chilli powder (for example: Methi Papad ki Sabzi). Gujaratis will not cook a dish without mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafoetida and in the Southern states, the dominating spices are mustard seeds, asafoetida and aromatic curry leaves. Towards the east and Bengal side (good example is Chorchori), we can taste the unique goodness of paanch phoron, which is a flavourful mix of cumin, mustard, onion, fennel and fenugreek seeds.

Indian cuisine best understands the goodness of using spices in cooking and brings home the fact that wellness is possible in each and every Indian home.