Spice Story
Sunday was the only day off growing up in India and a day for special meal. We all had assigned tasks in the family. My dad would be in charge of getting fresh cut meat early morning and i was responsible for fresh produce from famers market and making the spice blend for the dishes my mom would prepare. After prepping the ingredients, i would roast the spices and grind it using traditional hand grinding stone that was really heavy and looks like an enormous mortar pestle. Highly tedious job but the flavors were amazing. There is something special about small batch toasted and ground spices. My mom tasked me with this after many years of unofficial training from my grandmothers.
There are so many varieties of spices that are not used in commercial blends. Then there is misinformation and incorrectly proportioned spice blends such as “Curry Powder” which was born out of colonial times and has an overpowering amount of turmeric. This led to my cooking classes in 2007 where I began teaching about flavoring the food using spices in right way. And finally to the launch of Smita's Cookery small batch spice blends.
“Spices are often misunderstood as ‘Spicy’. Spices just add flavor to food and should never overpower your food. Spicy is when you add heat to the food with chilies. Adding spices to the food is like chemistry. It’s to know when to crush garlic or slice? Which spices should be combined and not?”
Smita's Cookery Spice blends
These blends can be used in your own style as rubs, marinades or seasoning. It's a universal blend to flavor to your everyday cooking.
The Meat Spice has 12 spices giving it robust flavor. It’s highly concentrated (1/2 tsp for 1 pound of chicken) and pairs well with meat, poultry, roots, beans etc. Chefs have used it in their menu in creative ways. Our customers rave about the flavors and have used it in their recipes from grilling meats, baked beans, BBQ, goulash, braised meats and what not.
The Veggie Spice is combination 11 spices. It has dry mango, garlic, black pepper, dry fenugreek, ginger to name a few. These spices when combined altogether creates a delicious flavor that is good as a one stop solution for grilling or roasting or seasoning veggies. It’s universal blend that can be used for seafood, shrimp, scallops, mushrooms, lentils, greens, salad dressing, pickling and endless possibilities.