| Indian Spices | |  India is known the world over as The Home of Spices. The term spices applies to natural plant or vegetable products or mixtures in whole or ground form, which are used for imparting flavor, aroma and piquancy to the food items. Spices are also being used within the country for flavoring foods and in medicines,Pharmaceutical, perfumery, cosmetics and several other industries. | | | History of Spices | |  The fame of Indian spices is older than the recorded history. It is believed that the Parthian wars were being fought by Rome largely to keep open the trade route to India. It is also said that Indian spices and her famed products were the main lure for crusades and expeditions to the East . The people of those times used spices, as we do today, to enhance or vary the flavors of their foods. | | | Types of Spices | |  Spices are made up of many parts of a plant such as fruits, roots, bark, flowers, leaves etc. Some spices add flavour to otherwise tasteless and bland food. Some are used for the beautification and garnishing of the food. | | | Spice Farming | |  Spice farming is of great importance because spices are one of the major commercial crops of India. The farming of spices require a lot of knowledge about the particular species of spice, its requirement in terms of soil, sunlight, irrigation, temperature etc. | |
| | | Culinary Terms | |  This tempering is either done as the first step in the cooking process, before adding the vegetables for example, or as the last, pouring the tempered oil over dal. Spices and herbs are added one at a time to hot oil. The oil extracts and retains all the sharp flavours of all the spices and coats the entire dish being prepared. Also known as tadka or chonk.
| | | Regional Recipes | |  India is a vast country with many states. Every state has their own unique recipes and style of cooking. All the spices used in the cooking of these foods remain the same but the usage varies with every changing state.Three functions of spices in Indian cooking - medicinal, preservative, and seasoning - got separated with the passing time. | | | Masala Recipes | |  All spices have a distinct flavour and taste. A variety of spices are also mixed together to make various other combination spices which make the food more palatable and tasty. These combination spices are used in various culinary recipes all over India. | | | Spice Producing Areas | |  The climate of the country is ideal for the growth of almost all spices. Spices are an important group of agricultural goods, which are virtually indispensable in the culinary art. They also play a significant role in our national economy and also in the economies of several spice producing, exporting and importing countries. | |
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