How To Blend Spices
Recipes
- “Roast, Mill, Cook!” Recipe Book
- Easy Chicken Curry
- Oriental Fried Rice
- Sri Lankan Beef Curry
- Organic Artisanal Tandoori Chicken Masala
- Spicy BBQ Poultry Marinade
- Classic Garam Masala Spices - Mixed Vegetable Curry
- Fresh Chai
- Shepherd's Pie
- Dahl / Lentil Curry (GF)
- Sri Lankan Chicken Curry
- Aromatic Yellow Rice (GF)
- Kashmiri Garam Masala
- Tandoori Chicken
About Organic Fair Trade Spices
Organic Cooking Spices:
The Spicy Gourmet uses only chemical-free USDA certified organic spices that contain no additives or preservatives of any kind. Why? Because we care about quality, we care about people, and we know that you care, too.
Organic farming is better for spice growers and the planet.
- Workers are healthier because they don’t handle or inhale toxic chemicals.
- Organically farmed spices receive no synthetic fertilizers, eliminating the run-off of nitrogen- and phosphorus-based nutrients, which are toxic to the environment.
- Organically farmed spices also contain higher levels of the trace elements that, for centuries, have made spices an integral element of the natural healing arts.
- And, of course, organic spices just taste better.
Fair Trade Spices:
Fair Trade Guidelines guarantee small scale farmers a fair price for their harvest, giving them access to better housing, healthcare and education. By supporting fair trade you are supporting economic independence for farming families.
The Spicy Gourmet purchases his spices from small organic farmer associations in Sri Lanka and from community farmers in India. Our fair trade status is vouched for by Trust Organic Small Farmers – A new Alliance for Eco-Ethical Trade and Goods.
Whole, Freshly Milled Spices:
Most store-bought spices arrive in powdered form, already milled, so by the time you buy them, some of their flavor and aroma has been lost. And once you open the jar, oxygen enters, and more of that essence escapes. But Spicy Gourmet premium whole spices are different; they retain their oils, aroma and flavor until you release them by milling them on the spot with our custom desinged spice grinder, just as you mill coffee beans for your morning cup.
Note: A few of our spices are pre-ground because it is simply not practical to offer them whole. Cayenne, for instance, is the powder of pulverized dried red peppers, and because dried peppers contain mostly air, a tin of them would yield very little cayenne. Turmeric is the ground root of a ginger-like tuber, so it has to be ground before packaging.
Dry-roasted Spices
A spice blend recipe may call for dry-roasting whole spices to release the essential oils and subtly shift the balance, strength and identity of the flavors before milling. It’s a simple process that involves nothing more than heating batches of whole spices in a skillet for a few minutes each. The first time you try it, you’ll fall in love with the aromas that rise from your skilled. And feel free to experiment. You don’t have to roast all the spices separately; you can toss all of those that are about the same size into the skillet together, then add the delicate, smaller ones for the last thirty seconds or so.
Freshly Milled Spices
There is simply no substitute for milling your own spices on demand, releasing those tantalizing flavors and aromas exactly when you need them. That’s why The Spicy Gourmet Spice Blending Package includes a precision electric spice grinder. Just toss in the dry-roasted spices, and in moments, they’ll be ready to enliven your palette and fire up your recipes on an adventure in great taste.
