It does sound to me like the spices might be home-ground and are too coarse in texture. Are they ready ground or home ground spices?

First of all, thanks to everyone that's chiming in.  I've tried with both homeground which may be to coarse but also storebought which I think looks very fine ground.

The results always seem to be - oil with the taste of oil (no taste that is) and some sand on the bottom. Also, shouldn't at least the homeground spices scent the oil or at least taste something in their own right. For example my coriander seeds tastes a lot when I eat them before grinding and adding to the oil. But then they just taste like grit as I've pointed out earlier. Maybe I'm also using to much oil.         

How do your "pastes" taste like? Of course this depends on the spices used, but in general. Nice and fragrant?

What is it that you're trying to achieve here? Are you frying and tasting individual spices to understand the flavours they impart?

The flavours from spices is contained in the essential oils, when frying in hot oil the oil infuses with those essential oils. Oil is the flavour carrier, not the gritty spices themselves, so you should only be tasting the oil, not the spices.

The same thing applies when frying in a garlic ginger paste, the oil takes on the flavours of the garlic, ginger and spices, so taste the oil when it separates, not the mixture itself. The garlic/ginger paste when pureed with water helps you to control the heat and frying time - you have a much longer window of time when doing it this way as opposed to say 15-30 seconds when frying in only hot oil.

The point at which spices can burn when frying in hot oil is seconds and you have no indicator to tell you when to move on to the next stage of the recipe and stop frying them unless you understand the smell they produce and the changing colour. Understanding that smell and colour and point to stop them frying takes practice and experience and a lot of burned spices!

Frying spices in a garlic/ginger paste with added water gives you control and protection from burnt spices and also an indicator as to when to stop frying and move on to the next stage - it's a more controllable process.

Allright, seems then that maybe my spices are just old. Maybe I'll report later if I make any progress.

Quote from: bayleafthief on March 08, 2013, 12:47 PM
Allright, seems then that maybe my spices are just old.

That's quite possible, a lot of the symptoms you're describing here are symptomatic of stale spices.

Spices start to lose their flavour immediately after you open the packet and will continue to decline to the point they become stale which usually happens after about 2-3 months or so in storage but can be less if they're not stored correctly. Ideally you need to store them in an airtight jar away from light and heat which are the two main causes of spice deterioration. Store them in a cool dark place ideally.

Fresh spices should be pungent when you open the jar and you shouldn't have to put your nose into the jar to smell the aroma. Putting your nose into a jar and still not smelling much is a sure sign of stale spices.

As spicey says you should get a real hit from each individual spice when you open the packet. That being the case it's then virtually impossible to fry them and have no flavour. Once I open a packet I roll the top tight and clip it together with a washing peg so that the packet is then closed tight. I then pack them tightly together in a plasctic bicuit tin (I have four of them) which keeps out the light. They are all then stored in cupboard, again with little in the way of light coming in. Making spice mixes / masalas and cooking curries about 5/6 times a week ensures that I go through the lot every couple of months which helps with freshness also.