Scet wrote:

> When I use spices such as cloves, fennel, cardomom pods and star anise, my
> kids complain about chewiing on a whole clove or fennel etc.
> Scet

I put my whole spices in a little muslin tea bag (you can buy them at
tea shops), fish it out at the end of cooking, turn inside out over the
garbage, wash by hand with a very mild soap.
blacksalt

Hi,
I have been making curries for a few years now, sometimes I use Babas
curry powder and spices and sometimes if I an feeling lazy I use paste.

When I use spices such as cloves, fennel, cardomom pods and star anise, my
kids complain about chewiing on a whole clove or fennel etc. My wife and I
usually spot them before we eat it but the kids just shovel it in. Is there
anyway or trick to cooking with spices to prevent this? Do I have to
labouriously pick through it all and remove them?

What do restaurants and street hawkers do? I have spent 14 weeks in Malaysia
and don't remember having that problem.

Any advice is appreciated.

Scet

"kalanamak" > wrote in message
...
> Scet wrote:
>
> > When I use spices such as cloves, fennel, cardomom pods and star anise,
my
> > kids complain about chewiing on a whole clove or fennel etc.
> > Scet
>
> I put my whole spices in a little muslin tea bag (you can buy them at
> tea shops), fish it out at the end of cooking, turn inside out over the
> garbage, wash by hand with a very mild soap.
> blacksalt

What about spices that need to be fried?

Scet

"Scet" > wrote in message
...
>
> "kalanamak" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Scet wrote:
>>
>> > When I use spices such as cloves, fennel, cardomom pods and star
>> > anise,
> my
>> > kids complain about chewiing on a whole clove or fennel etc.
>> > Scet
>>
>> I put my whole spices in a little muslin tea bag (you can buy them
>> at
>> tea shops), fish it out at the end of cooking, turn inside out over
>> the
>> garbage, wash by hand with a very mild soap.
>> blacksalt
>
> What about spices that need to be fried?

I suppose you could fry them before putting in the bag and I wonder if
one of those perforated stainless steel tea infusers would also work?
That might be easier to clean. I don't drink much tea but I clean mine
in the dishwasher.


--
James V. Silverton
Potomac, Maryland, USA

Scet wrote:

> What about spices that need to be fried?
>
> Scet

I think that a great deal of what such spices do is flavour the oil. I'd
fry, then bag, then simmer. The **big** stuff, like black cardi or star
anise, I'd just count and pluck out before serving to the little 'uns.

Scet wrote:

> What about spices that need to be fried?
>
> Scet

I think that a great deal of what such spices do is flavour the oil. I'd
fry, then bag, then simmer. The **big** stuff, like black cardi or star
anise, I'd just count and pluck out before serving to the little 'uns.

"kalanamak" > wrote in message
...
> Scet wrote:
>
> > What about spices that need to be fried?
> >
> > Scet
>
> I think that a great deal of what such spices do is flavour the oil. I'd
> fry, then bag, then simmer. The **big** stuff, like black cardi or star
> anise, I'd just count and pluck out before serving to the little 'uns.

Sounds like a good idea, I'll give it a try.

Scet

dry spices
1. dry fry the spices for a few minutes on low heat until it is fragrant,
remove from heat & allow to cool.
2. pound spices as to recipe & mix in other dry spices like chilli powder,
turmeric powder etc. to complete the dry spice/curry powder mix. This is how
dry spices or curry powders are made. To use add a little water to form a
wet paste & use as req. in curries or rub over meat.

wet spices
1. add fresh spices, chillis, ginger root, turmeric root, galangal etc. into
mortar & pestle by firmness & begin pounding. Start with the toughest like
ginger root, tumeric root or lemon grass etc. & ending with coriander or
cumin stems/roots & fresh chillis. This is how wet spices or fresh curry
paste is made. Have a look at how Thai curry pastes are made.

dry + wet.
a combination of the above, for example dry fry coriander seeds, cumin
seeds, etc. & allow to cool, pound to fine & remove, next pound lemon grass,
ginger, chillis etc. finally mix it all together with a sprinkling of
turmeric powder. Add a little water to form a paste if it's too dry.

spices with pods like green cardamom are dry fried with pods, after cooling
remove pods to extract the black seeds. cloves & star anise can be dry fried
then pounded or ground to fine powder but best used immediately. Keeping
these or any spices in powder form for long periods will mean they will
loose their flavours.

Generally, most spices (dry & fresh) are ground to fine powder or fine pulp
then used accordingly. In older or traditional recipes or village style
food, there is a slight preference for a 'rougher' ground or pulp rempah or
bambu (spice paste) i.e. not too fine, people like to have a bit of texture
in their sauce or gravy provided by the fibres or rough ground spices. You
can see this by comparing curries or rendangs esp. between a modern 'styled'
rendang & a traditionally made rendang. I prefer the old style not because
it's more authentic but because it has better texture & is more pungent as
you find the odd bit of lemon grass or chilli seed that suddenly explodes
with flavour in your mouth.

Maybe you need to find an old Malaysian or Indonesian recipe book that shows
you how to make curries from scratch, you'll then see & taste the
difference.

hope this helps.

DC.



"Scet" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
> I have been making curries for a few years now, sometimes I use Babas
> curry powder and spices and sometimes if I an feeling lazy I use paste.
>
> When I use spices such as cloves, fennel, cardomom pods and star anise, my
> kids complain about chewiing on a whole clove or fennel etc. My wife and I
> usually spot them before we eat it but the kids just shovel it in. Is
there
> anyway or trick to cooking with spices to prevent this? Do I have to
> labouriously pick through it all and remove them?
>
> What do restaurants and street hawkers do? I have spent 14 weeks in
Malaysia
> and don't remember having that problem.
>
> Any advice is appreciated.
>
> Scet
>
>

"DC." > wrote in message
...
> dry spices
> 1. dry fry the spices for a few minutes on low heat until it is fragrant,
> remove from heat & allow to cool.
> 2. pound spices as to recipe & mix in other dry spices like chilli powder,
> turmeric powder etc. to complete the dry spice/curry powder mix. This is
how
> dry spices or curry powders are made. To use add a little water to form a
> wet paste & use as req. in curries or rub over meat.
>
> wet spices
> 1. add fresh spices, chillis, ginger root, turmeric root, galangal etc.
into
> mortar & pestle by firmness & begin pounding. Start with the toughest like
> ginger root, tumeric root or lemon grass etc. & ending with coriander or
> cumin stems/roots & fresh chillis. This is how wet spices or fresh curry
> paste is made. Have a look at how Thai curry pastes are made.
>
> dry + wet.
> a combination of the above, for example dry fry coriander seeds, cumin
> seeds, etc. & allow to cool, pound to fine & remove, next pound lemon
grass,
> ginger, chillis etc. finally mix it all together with a sprinkling of
> turmeric powder. Add a little water to form a paste if it's too dry.
>
> spices with pods like green cardamom are dry fried with pods, after
cooling
> remove pods to extract the black seeds. cloves & star anise can be dry
fried
> then pounded or ground to fine powder but best used immediately. Keeping
> these or any spices in powder form for long periods will mean they will
> loose their flavours.
>
> Generally, most spices (dry & fresh) are ground to fine powder or fine
pulp
> then used accordingly. In older or traditional recipes or village style
> food, there is a slight preference for a 'rougher' ground or pulp rempah
or
> bambu (spice paste) i.e. not too fine, people like to have a bit of
texture
> in their sauce or gravy provided by the fibres or rough ground spices. You
> can see this by comparing curries or rendangs esp. between a modern
'styled'
> rendang & a traditionally made rendang. I prefer the old style not because
> it's more authentic but because it has better texture & is more pungent as
> you find the odd bit of lemon grass or chilli seed that suddenly explodes
> with flavour in your mouth.
>
> Maybe you need to find an old Malaysian or Indonesian recipe book that
shows
> you how to make curries from scratch, you'll then see & taste the
> difference.
>
> hope this helps.
>
> DC.
>
> >
Thanks DC, it's great to get an in depth answer such as yours. I have
"Traditional Malaysian Cuisine" by Berita Publishing, and a few others
whose names elude me at this time and have pounded ingredients in the past
as I bought a large black granite mortar and pestle when I was in Malaysia,
so I'll give the grinding pounding a try and see how things turn out.

Thanks for your help I appreciate it.

Scet
>
>

<snip>
> Thanks DC, it's great to get an in depth answer such as yours. I have
> "Traditional Malaysian Cuisine" by Berita Publishing, and a few others
> whose names elude me at this time and have pounded ingredients in the past
> as I bought a large black granite mortar and pestle when I was in
Malaysia,
> so I'll give the grinding pounding a try and see how things turn out.
>
> Thanks for your help I appreciate it.
>
> Scet

If it's by Berita than chances are it's pretty good or 'authentic' enough &
there should be a few if not more recipes where you are required to pound.
If you are feeling lazy, a blender will do the job too but depending on the
spices you need to blitz, i sometimes find that it adds too much 'air' into
the final paste, resulting in a souffle like paste, which i don't like & for
some strange reason doesn't taste as strong & pungent as it should. I think
it can 'over-blitz' (if there's such a word) & when frying up the paste, it
doesn't give out as much flavour & aroma as it should. I prefer pounding,
starting with cut up pieces of lemon grass or ginger or galangal etc. &
working towards the softer spices next.

Quite a few Malaysian & Indonesian restaurants hire 'women folk' from the
villages to prepare their curry paste or rempah(Malay) or bambu(Indonesian)
for them once or twice a week. Some of these are of course secret family
recipes & is what makes the dish. The restaurant cook just cooks meals with
these hand pounded curry paste or spice mixes. This is common practice in
Asia but recently i found out that even in Holland/The Netherlands with
it's close connections to Indonesia & it has a sizeable population of
Indonesians in Amsterdam etc. this practise is still in use as old ladies
would come in & prepare the week's curry paste for the restauants. Now you
know why it tastes so good.

DC.

"DC." > wrote in message
...
> <snip>
> > Thanks DC, it's great to get an in depth answer such as yours. I have
> > "Traditional Malaysian Cuisine" by Berita Publishing, and a few others
> > whose names elude me at this time and have pounded ingredients in the
past
> > as I bought a large black granite mortar and pestle when I was in
> Malaysia,
> > so I'll give the grinding pounding a try and see how things turn out.
> >
> > Thanks for your help I appreciate it.
> >
> > Scet
>
> If it's by Berita than chances are it's pretty good or 'authentic' enough
&
> there should be a few if not more recipes where you are required to pound.
> If you are feeling lazy, a blender will do the job too but depending on
the
> spices you need to blitz, i sometimes find that it adds too much 'air'
into
> the final paste, resulting in a souffle like paste, which i don't like &
for
> some strange reason doesn't taste as strong & pungent as it should. I
think
> it can 'over-blitz' (if there's such a word) & when frying up the paste,
it
> doesn't give out as much flavour & aroma as it should. I prefer pounding,
> starting with cut up pieces of lemon grass or ginger or galangal etc. &
> working towards the softer spices next.
>
> Quite a few Malaysian & Indonesian restaurants hire 'women folk' from the
> villages to prepare their curry paste or rempah(Malay) or
bambu(Indonesian)
> for them once or twice a week. Some of these are of course secret family
> recipes & is what makes the dish. The restaurant cook just cooks meals
with
> these hand pounded curry paste or spice mixes. This is common practice in
> Asia but recently i found out that even in Holland/The Netherlands with
> it's close connections to Indonesia & it has a sizeable population of
> Indonesians in Amsterdam etc. this practise is still in use as old ladies
> would come in & prepare the week's curry paste for the restauants. Now you
> know why it tastes so good.
>
> DC.
>
>
>Thanks DC.

Scet

"DC." > wrote in message
...
> <snip>
> > Thanks DC, it's great to get an in depth answer such as yours. I have
> > "Traditional Malaysian Cuisine" by Berita Publishing, and a few others
> > whose names elude me at this time and have pounded ingredients in the
past
> > as I bought a large black granite mortar and pestle when I was in
> Malaysia,
> > so I'll give the grinding pounding a try and see how things turn out.
> >
> > Thanks for your help I appreciate it.
> >
> > Scet
>
> If it's by Berita than chances are it's pretty good or 'authentic' enough
&
> there should be a few if not more recipes where you are required to pound.
> If you are feeling lazy, a blender will do the job too but depending on
the
> spices you need to blitz, i sometimes find that it adds too much 'air'
into
> the final paste, resulting in a souffle like paste, which i don't like &
for
> some strange reason doesn't taste as strong & pungent as it should. I
think
> it can 'over-blitz' (if there's such a word) & when frying up the paste,
it
> doesn't give out as much flavour & aroma as it should. I prefer pounding,
> starting with cut up pieces of lemon grass or ginger or galangal etc. &
> working towards the softer spices next.
>
> Quite a few Malaysian & Indonesian restaurants hire 'women folk' from the
> villages to prepare their curry paste or rempah(Malay) or
bambu(Indonesian)
> for them once or twice a week. Some of these are of course secret family
> recipes & is what makes the dish. The restaurant cook just cooks meals
with
> these hand pounded curry paste or spice mixes. This is common practice in
> Asia but recently i found out that even in Holland/The Netherlands with
> it's close connections to Indonesia & it has a sizeable population of
> Indonesians in Amsterdam etc. this practise is still in use as old ladies
> would come in & prepare the week's curry paste for the restauants. Now you
> know why it tastes so good.
>
> DC.
>
>
>Thanks DC.

Scet