Topic: Roasting spices

[Curry King]

Im gonna have a go at roasting and grinding my own spices for my curry tonight and wondered how everyone else does it?

Do I just shove them all in a frying pan at once and heat for a few mins then grind?

Cheers
cK

[curryqueen]

Hi Curryking,

If you roast and grind spices it will give your curry a different aroma to that of a restaurant.  To roast spices put into a pan which has been heated to a medium heat and cook them until they start to turn colour.  They are now ready to grind.  It should only take a couple of minutes

[Yousef]

Hmm,

I did mine on a roasting tray in a hot oven until they sort of smoked a little, only done it once never really thought it worth the hassle after.

Perhaps you can report back CK

[Curry King]

I cooked the spices all together on a medium heat for about 3 mins, they had just started to spit about.? I then pound them to a fairly fine powder, smelt fantastic!!? Ive posted a followup here:

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=217.0

Cheers
cK

[ghanna]

Hi , CURRYKING
They need to be roasted only lightly,not more than 2 minutes in high heat while moving them in the pan all the time
Please remember that during grinding their temperature will increase specially if you are going to grind them in an electrical spice grinder. (over heated )
Their taste is going to turn bitter and burnt if you did the combination of  roasting them for long time and then grinding them .
Please allow the spices to cool completely and then grind them.
I hope i helped
Thanks
ghanna

[Curry King]

I ground them by hand, there was a burnt\roasted smell about them but I assume thats what there supposed to smell like?  The curry I made with them tasted the nuts 

[london_lhr]

Hi Curry king,
Because of the different size of the various spices, some
people prefer to roast the different spices individually, mix
them together and then grind them together. Do not
roast too long. Basically heat till they become aromatic and
change colour SLIGHTLY ie do not over roast. The term
normally used is '' when the spices become one shade darker''
For traditional curries, this is the way to go!, especially your
Garam Masala. It is very quick and may be less expensive than
buying ready mixed. (Sure tastes better!) Unfortunately I
don't know how the restaurant/take away trade does it?
(If it was me with a restaurant/take away, I would probably
grind my own to save costs - it all adds up long term)

Respectfully,
Barry.

PS. Store in an airtight container IN THE DARK. All spices de-
teriorate in the light. If the container is dark, ok, else store in a
cupboard or other dark place. This may be obvious to us oldies
but not necessarily to the newbies.

[pete]

I cooked the spices all together on a medium heat for about 3 mins, they had just started to spit about.? I then pound them to a fairly fine powder, smelt fantastic!!

Hi CK
Did you think roasting the spices changed their flavour?
Worth doing again?

[joe2]

>>Hi Curry king,
Because of the different size of the various spices, some
people prefer to roast the different spices individually, mix
them together and then grind them together. Do not
roast too long. Basically heat till they become aromatic and
change colour SLIGHTLY ie do not over roast. The term
normally used is '' when the spices become one shade darker''
For traditional curries, this is the way to go!, especially your
Garam Masala. It is very quick and may be less expensive than
buying ready mixed. (Sure tastes better!) Unfortunately I
don't know how the restaurant/take away trade does it?
(If it was me with a restaurant/take away, I would probably
grind my own to save costs - it all adds up long term)

Respectfully,
Barry.

PS. Store in an airtight container IN THE DARK. All spices de-
teriorate in the light. If the container is dark, ok, else store in a
cupboard or other dark place. This may be obvious to us oldies
but not necessarily to the newbies.>>

Did you lick the stamp??

[Curry King]

Did you think roasting the spices changed their flavour?
Worth doing again?

It was worth doing to try the Khalia which is the only reason I did it and I will be making it again.  I don't know if I would grind all my own spices from what I know the restaurants don't do it so I would be getting a different taste.  I might try making a vindaloo with my own ground spice just to see what its like though.