HOMEMADE SPICE MIXES YOU WILL USE ALL THE TIME. WEEKLY MEAL PLAN IDEAS #8.
Now that we have officially entered the fall season, I bet you feel the urge to cozy up your meals a bit, right?
Hot tea replaces the iced versions of tea and coffee and soups replace summer salads. Stews and curries will be on the menu more often and therefore you need to get ready for your best curry season yet.
I´m on a mission to upgrade your cooking toward the healthiest version possible while being so delicious, that you´ll never opt for a delivery again..
Now you might be thinking… no way I can beat the curry from that Indian place nearby… well, you might be surprised. 😲
The most important thing you need to understand before you dive into this curry topic, is that you cannot rely on supermarket spice mixes.🙅🏼♀️
First, because you don´t know what's inside and second, because they almost always have poor quality and taste.
Did you know that curry powder has nothing to do with Indian cuisine?
Curry (as in a spiced dish) is the British name for various spicy dishes they encountered in India.
Curry powder is a British invention, when the British tried to replicate Indian food back home. There is no standard curry powder. Various companies made their own blends of different spices, and sold it as "curry powder". The first curry recipe was published in a British cookbook in 1747. Curry powder is known as an 18th century British invention.
However, the curry leaf is Indian, and has been in use in south Indian cuisine for thousands of years, long before the British arrived in India. Its use is very regional, being popular mainly in south India (and one western state), but not in north Indian or east Indian cuisines.
There are no standard spice mixes. Wherever you go, you will find hundreds of Korma Powders in India, hundreds of Ras El Hanout in Orient and hundreds of Fajita mixes in Mexico, so even if you create your own, you cannot go wrong.
And here's my point.. you need to create your mixes from the basic ingredients for the best taste and all the healthy benefits.
The best thing is to buy the whole version of spices - instead of ground cumin, get the whole seeds etc..
The seeds are naturally designed to preserve for a long time until they find a piece of soil so they can grow into a plant.
But the moment you grind them, they become vulnerable against mold and bacteria, so they are usually chemically treated.
Another disadvantage of grind versions of spices is that they lose their taste very quickly. So, if you have some cumin powder sitting in your kitchen for a couple of years, the best place for it is the bin.
And here´s the next step.
Once you get a wide variety of whole spices - and you can order all of them online (https://www.buywholefoodsonline.com), get a coffee grinder and you are all set. Believe me, the feeling of being covered when you come across some cute Indian, Oriental or Mexican recipe and you know you can create the spice mix on your own is priceless.
Have a look at my 3 favorite spice mixes I use all the time.
When the recipe says Curry powder, I add my Korma Powder and it´s way more delicious. When a recipe says some other mix you´d need to buy, just google the ingredients and create it on your own within 3 min.
Just throw all the whole ingredients in a coffee grinder and give it a good stir. Then store in a glass container for a few months.
By using top quality whole spices you will not only shift your meals to a whole different level, but you will get all the health benefits too.
Spices have been used for thousands of years - in Ayurveda, the first ancient holistic system in the world, spices are used as medicine to heal the body according to individual composition of elements - doshas. Many of them help to improve digestion, circulation, some help to relieve coughs and headaches, some help to improve immunity and decrease inflammation.
And now, let´s dive into this week's spicy menu.⬇️
SATURDAY:
✅ Check your pantry and get what´s missing. Have a look in local gourmet shops to get the best quality whole spices, or order them online, preferably organic.
✅ Soak 1 cup of chickpeas overnight.
SUNDAY MEAL PREP:
Great thing about stews and curries is that you can cook a big batch of them, they last in the fridge for a couple of days more and then you can freeze portions for busy days.
Another great thing about stews and curries is that you can throw almost any veg you find in your fridge. So you don´t really have to follow the exact recipe and if you don´t have a sweet potato, just use a normal one, or squash instead. Remember, with your homemade spice mixes, you already have the guarantee for the best taste.
Cook AYURVEDA VEG STEW
Cook EASY VEG KORMA
Well done! Easy, right? 🤷🏼♀️
Once your pantry is full of whole spices, a whole new world of taste will unfold in front of you. With a good spices variety you can upgrade basic meals such as porridge, barley or roast potatoes to the next level.
TREAT OF THE WEEK.
But do you know what I think is the best cozyfier? A good apple-cinnamon combination!
Yes, here comes my APPLE LEMON CINNAMON PIE as the treat of the week.
Enjoy, stay warm and cozy..
Have an awesome week! 💙