Making spice blends – my favourite part of the process. I freshly toast and grind all of my own spice blends and wouldn’t have it any other way. Other than a much deeper, better flavour, the process soothes my mind.
I’m a serial over-thinker, my brain mulling over at least 28 gazillion things at any given time. But when spices hit a hot pan, they get needy (think Mariah Carey needy.) They require you to stop everything you’re doing to just watch, smell and listen. I can smell a perfectly toasted cumin seed, see the colour change in a golden fenugreek seed and hear the way a mustard seed pops when it gets hot…My kind of meditation.
Sri Lankan Curry Powder is super fragrant and redolent of warm, tropical beaches.
Sri Lankan Curry Powder
Course: Herbs & SpicesCuisine: Sri LankanDifficulty: Easy4
servings10
minutes5
minutesSri Lankan Curry Powder is super fragrant, robust and redolent of warm, tropical beaches.
Ingredients
1 tbsp basmati or jasmine rice
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick, broken
6 cloves
2 green cardamom or 1 black cardamom pod
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp nigella seeds
5 small dried red chillies
1Directions
- Add the rice to a dry pan and toast until the grains just begin to change colour. Add the remaining spices to the pan and toast until browned and aromatic. This will take around 2-4 minutes. Keep moving the spices and adjusting the flame so that the spices do not catch, burn and become butter.
- ;eave to cool before grinding everything to a fine powder in either a spice grinder or by hand in pestle and mortar.
- Best used immediately or stored in an airtight container for a few weeks before using.
