I am continuing my experiments with herbs and spices...
Fenugreek is one of the main ingredients in curry powder and the more I taste it, the more it reminds me of curry powder. I am not sure how hot it is, in and of itself as I always mix it with other things. I am going to continue experimenting with it..... Particularly now I have more veg and stuff to cook properly with. It helps nursing mothers produce milk, good for lowering cholestorol and helpful in dealing with the metabolic effects of diabetes.
I also bought my second new herb / spice and this is black onion seed. It is the seed of the plant Nigella sativa and has many names including Nigella, Kalonji, Black Cumin and Fennel Flower. It is used in curries, pickles and as a topping on peshwari naan. They are used in medicine to lower blood pressure, prevent flatulence and get rid of worms.
We had a load of sausages to use and I had some noodles open so I made a sausage stir fry, I flavoured it with fenugreek, black onion seed, paprika and black and red pepper. I also added a sachet of coconut milk. It was a lovely meal and F gave it 10 out of 10. I love paprika and peppper but the onion seed, fenugreek and coconut milk gave it a lovely gentle flavour behind the spice.
I am still not sure how easy it is going to be finding different herbs and spices to experiment with! We live in a rural area where there are few minority groups (except the Polish) so there are few speciality food shops. I am limited as to what I can find... I used to live in the city and I loved the ethnic food shops, I loved buying char sui dumplings to steam from Chinese supermarkets and Carribean take aways of rice and peas. I loved the Asian fabric shops.
I am going to need to be more inventive, living down here, away from so many things. Maybe I should go into one of the Polish shops and see if they have any different herbs and spices..... Maybe I should look at getting some seeds for some strange and unusual plants....
Anyway, I still have my Fenugreek and Black Onion Seed to experiment with for now....
Working hard on the cottage
10 months ago
Oh, you just made me very hungry....*dribble*
ReplyDeleteI used to live in a town where the downtown area was all lovely little shops and one of them was called The Spice Trader...you could get all kinds of imaginably wonderful things. I even made my own garam masala....*sigh*...and then one day B kicked me out of the kitchen...
I must admit, I do miss having a bit of an experiment in the kitchen..only trouble is, I'd be the only one eating my food. B tends towards meat 'n potatoes (although he won't admit it) and the kids...well....not much into curries and fancy things...
Now if you could just *beam* me over some leftovers....
Your spice experiments are lovely to read about. I'm a big spice fan. Rubin's father is Indian (my ex now though), and I had to learn about cooking with some very strange spices. We have some great Indian food shops here ~ I could send you a little surprise parcel, if you like? Is there anything you fancy?
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I have converted F a little. He is still a meat man but he likes a little spice and stuff... I would miss not cooking at all....
ReplyDeleteI bet learning to use exotic spices was kind of interesting though? *grin* I would love a parcel but I have no idea what I fancy, because I don't know what there is....