What are the Essential BIR Spices and Ingredients?

[Peripatetic Phil]

What is the best method for storing spices?

In a hermetically sealed glass jar, stored in a dark cool place for as short a time as possible.

Also i see that cloves have been changed to a strikethrough, are they no longer an essential spice?

I don't think that they ever were; the strike-through indicates that Cory Ander changed his mind at some point.  I would modify the list as follows :

Ground (Powdered) Spices:

• Coriander
• Cumin
• Tumeric
• Chilli
• Kashmiri mirch
• Deggi mirch
• Paprika
• Good quality medium curry powder or paste (or spice mix)
• Good quality tandoori masala or paste
• Good quality garam masala
• Al Noor Bassar Curry Masala
• Mixed pickling spices
• Chat masala
• Hing

Whole Spices:

• Cardamom pods (green)
• Indian Bay leaves
• Cloves
• Cinnamon sticks (or cassia bark)
• Cumin seeds
• Fennel seeds
• Kala jeera
• Star anise
• Brown or black mustard seeds
• Nigella ("onion") seeds
• Panch phoran

Vegetables and Herbs:

• Fresh onions (white brown)
• -- ditto -- (red)
• Fresh garlic (and/or pureed bottled)
• Fresh ginger (and/or pureed bottled)
• Fresh coriander (leaves)
• Fresh red and green capsicums
• Fresh red and green chillies
• Fresh tomatoes
• Tinned tomatoes
• Dried fenugreek (leaves)

Others:

• Chicken, meat, fish or vegetables of choice
• Patak's Kashmiri masala
• Basmati rice
• Vegetable oil
• Tomato paste pur

[976bar]

I find that Paprika or indeed Smoked Paprika is essential to me in the winter months when I cannot BBQ anything outside, as this for me achieves that smokey flavour in dishes.

Tandoori Masala is essential in CTM for me and I have achieved my best results using both Tandoori Masala and Smoked Paprika.

Again, personal tastes will vary and you will need to stock your pantry according to the tastes that suit you best as you move forward with your experiments

[toddk63]

I am a newbie to the site and new to Indian cooking.  Just have one question that would help out.  What is the difference between chilies and capsicums?  Chiles = jalapenos, Thai chilies, etc?? Capsicum = Bell Peppers??? Being a Yank (actually a Texan) we have all kinds of chilies and peppers in everything.

You ARE a Texan not a Yank.  That's how I present myself worldwide.  As far as I am concerned..."chile" is the correct spelling (Spanish origin) for all capsicum peppers.