While waiting to pay my bill at the Golden Temple, Bodmin, yesterday evening, I took advantage of the fact that I was waiting at the kitchen hatch to note how the kitchen was arranged and what spices (etc) were in evidence. There were ten unlabelled spice containers above the kitchen range, and when Mrs Bari arrived to take my money, I took the opportunity to ask her what they were. From memory she had turmeric, chilli, her own personal spice mix, cumin, coriander, dried Kashmiri chillies (whole), sugar, ground cardamom, and two different garam masalas (one very dark). Asked about fenugreek, she said "only in the spice mix". She also had two stock pots, one large and dark (almost certainly a meat-based base -- her chicken curries are as dark as her lamb) and one lighter, almost certainly vegetarian. One curry was cooking at the time, and I noted that she cooks with the lid on.
** Phil.
Topic: One woman's idea of the necessary and sufficient set of spices ( 2,734 )