Fennel Seeds Fennels or Fennel seeds are dried seeds that comes from the fennel herb. They are roughly 4-8 mm in length and look like a grooved or ridged grain of rice. They look like cumin seeds, only greener, and have an aniseed flavour and a warm, sweet aroma. Also referred as Saunf in Indian terms, it comes...

Cardamom Considered to be the queen of spices, Cardamom is one of the most valued spices in the world, native to the Middle East, North Africa, and Scandinavia. Being a herb they are dried fruits of the ginger family. Available in three forms as – green cardamom, brown cardamom and Madagascar cardamom. In India it is referred as...

Cinnamon "Cinnamon makes muscle and liver cells more sensitive to signals from insulin, an inportant blood-sugar controlling hormone", says study author Richard Anderson, Ph. D. Have a little (about 1/6 tsp) at breakfast, lunch and dinner for a daily total of about 1/2 tsp, he recommends. The name cinnamon comes through the Greek kinnámōmon from Phoenician. It is a spice obtained from the inner bark of...

Indian Bay leaf Indian Bay leaf classically referred in medieval terms as referred as Malobathrum or Malabar leaf, is the leaf of the plant Cinnamomum tamala  also called as as Cinnamomum tejpat.  This leaf is often confused with the leaf of Bay Laurel, a tree of Mediterranean origin in a different genus which also finds use in western foods. However  the appearance and...

Urad Dhal Urad dal, is referred as white lentil or black lentil. It is a kind of bean that is grown in the southern parts of Asia. It is native to India where its cultivation is highly valued due to is numerous benefits. It is black in color and the seed inside is white. It is available in both forms. If the...

Star Anise Star anise termed biologically as Illicium verum, is obtained from the star-shaped pericarp, a medium-sized native evergreen tree of northeast Vietnam and southwest China. Star anise is actually the usually with eight arms. Each arm is a seed pod. The fruit is picked before it is ripe and then dried to be used as a spice...

Cloves Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum) are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae.  Cultivation Cloves are native to the Maluku islands in Indonesia and used as a spice in cuisines all over the world. Cloves are harvested primarily in Indonesia, India, Madagascar, Zanzibar, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The clove tree is an evergreen that grows to a height ranging from 8–12 m, having large leaves and sanguine flowers in numerous groups of terminal clusters.  Health Benefits Western...

Mustard Seeds Origin The earliest reference to mustard is in India from a story of Gautama Siddhārtha (सिद्धार्थ गौतम) in the 5th century BCE.  Mustard seeds generally take three to ten days to germinate if placed under the proper conditions, which include a cold atmosphere and relatively moist soil. Mature mustard plants grow into shrubs. Cultivation Mustard grows well in temperate...

Kitchen Powders in Indian cooking Indian cooking is partially dependend upon various sorts of spices mixed together to add up flavour and aroma to the dish prepared. These mix are either prepared homely or purchased from grocery shops. They may be finely or coarsely powdered. They are used in preparation of Sambar, Rasam, Curry, Kurma, Gravy and so...

Idli cooker This vessel is used to cook the South Indian famous food named 'Idli'. It comprises of 2 or 3 plates with cup like wholes numbering 4, 5, 7 or more and a vessel to hold these plates and then a lid to cover the vessel. The bottom vessel will be half filled with water and over...

Murukku achchu This is a device used to prepare murukku, the kurkure snack. It has 2 or three parts. Dispalyed here is an achu of 2 parts. The bottom vessel and the topper. The dough prepared for the snack has to be kept inside the bottom vessel which has tiny wholes that determine the width of the snack....

Pressure Cooker This is Pressure Cooker. It plays a vital role in every Indians Kitchen. It is used to pressure cook rice, potato, dal, and steam vegetables and idli. Its parts comprises of a whistle, gasket, the bottom pan and lid. It is mainly made of thick Aluminium or Stainless steel. It may be copper plated also. It...

Vazhathandu raita Ingredients Any of grated vegetables like onion, cabbage, mango, cucumber, carrot, vazhathandu(stem of banana) - 1 cup curd - 1 cup finely chopped chilli - 1 corriander leaves, tomato, sprouted green grams finely chopped to garnish salt to taste Method Mix any of the given vegetable to curd or a mixture of the given vegetables to...

Vazakkai poriyal Ingredients any vegetable well chopped - 1 cup onion chopped - 1 curry leaves - little chilli - 1 mustard seeds, urad dal - 1 tea spoon asafoetida - 1 pinch turmeric powder - 1 tea spoon oil - 1 tea spoon Method Heat oil in tava. Spurt mustard seeds. Add urad dal. Stir till it...

Sweet Lime Rasam Ingredients tomato - 1 tamarind pulp - 1 cup dal water - 1 cup rasam powder - 2 tea spoons salt to taste turmeric powder - 1 tea spoon To season Gingelly oil - 1 tea spoon dry red chilli - 1 curry leaves - little smashed garlic -2 mustard seeds - 1 tea spoon...

Onion Sambar Ingredients 1 cup toor dal 1/2 cup channa dal(kadali paruppu) or moong dal 1 cup of any vegetables chopped 1 tomato shallots - 5-6 or 1 onion chopped green chilli - 1 tamarind pulp - 3 tea spoons turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon sambar powder - 3 tea spoon corriander powder - 1 tea spoon salt...