"Wazza" > wrote in
:
> "mroo philpott-smythe" > wrote in message
> ...


>> I also grind my own spices in a coffee-grinder (which is never used
>> for anything else). However, I find that that type of grinding causes
>> some problems, On the other hand, I really don't want to go back to
>> the old days, when one had to grind on those huge granite blocks,
>> even if that does create the best texture and quality!

> what problems do you encounter?

When you do it on the granite, everything smooshes into a nice smooth
paste. I remember the old ladies would scoop the paste up from the big
blocks and then scrape it back into the middle of the blocks if it wasn't
smooth enough (and give you a knock on the back of the head with a
knuckle) and you would have to giling-giling-giling some more until one
of the expert aunties would pronounce the paste done.

The grinder/blender produces a waterier paste, which can require more oil
to fry. Also, the grinder never gets some spices ground enough (methi
comes to mind).

> I use a lab type blender, made by
> Waring US. It is VERY powerful, but I never let it grind to a powder.
> This reduces the likelyhood of burning when extracting into hot oil,
> and leaves little 'taste-bombs' of spice to savour! I prefer this to
> an overall smooth flavour, I like to taste the individual ingredients.

That's not how they made the rempahs of my childhood. However, the Waring
blender sounds interesting. I will google it.

I made an Indonesian chicken dish last night, and the lemongrass fibers
were still sticking in the rempah (and in my throat). When you giling it
on the big stone, the lemongrass turns into paste, which is nice.


>> Would you believe the Indian grocery store where I bought the kala
>> jira is now carrying bags of paprika right next to the mirch!

> well, they are closely related, same genus. The quality of the paprika
> matters, I think Hungarian is better than Spanish but any paprika
> seems to deteriorate very quickly. I much prefer to use either fresh
> chilli, of buy fresh red, and let them dry, that way I know the
> provenance, and there is no chance of adulteration (of the chilli at
> least!!!). I have dried large capsicums (bell peppers) but not tried
> grinding them yet, they look too good!

Same genus, very different tastes!

I made something traditionally Indian recently, and the recipe called for
paprika, so I used some (got it from CMC or Dean & DeLuca). Bag that. The
next time I make it, I'm just going to substitute mirch. It had a faintly
musky undertone from the paprika, almost like honey, which doesn't really
work with a coconut-milk based curry - to my tongue, anyway.

>> I used to get my mirch ground fresh at the local spice shop, but that
>> is not possible in the U.S.A. For one thing, they don't even carry
>> all those varieties of mirch that I'm used to.

> Care to expand, which ones are you lacking?

I don't know what they're called. This is from my childhood, when I would
go with my dad to buy freshly-made yoghurt from the dahiwallah and fresh-
ground atha for making chapatis and he would have the man at the atha
dealer's grind up various mirch into powder. I don't remember the names,
but in later years when I would go to buy, I would just point at the big
gunnysacks full of chillies.

>> I'll try the online spice dealers to see if I can find Kashmiri
>> chillies.

> I am of the opinion that (probably due to the conflicts in Kashmir)
> the export of their chilli has all but dried-up, maybe it's same for
> saffron (mine comes from Spain).

I've always heard that the Spanish zafran is the best quality. It's what
I use. (Not that I cook with it a whole lot!)


sq