There's nothing more intoxicating than the aromas of freshly ground spices—they're heady and complex, and evolve throughout the cooking process. Depending on how you handle them, though, their exact flavor and impact on the dish will be different.
Even the simplest recipes can be elevated with a few spices—both in terms of flavor and nutritional value. But is there an optimal time to add spices during the cooking process, and could getting it wrong diminish the effects?
To get the most out of every dish, let's see the simple algorithm on the best time to add different spices while cooking and why.
In traditional Indian dishes, like curry or stews, adding whole spices into hot oil is the first step. Aromatic spices, such as garlic, ginger, and onion come next. Finally, sprinkle in dry, powdered spices towards end. This layering method ensures a rich, nuanced, and flavorful dish every time.
1. To get even more flavor from each spice, toasting them prior to cooking works well.
All spices have essential oils tucked inside them, and to release them, they have to be activated with heat. When you warm those spices and start to toast them, that's when those oils get released and the aroma and flavor come alive. Remember, do not brown the spices as they loose their nutritional value- antioxidants and as well render a bitter taste.
Toasted spices:
More pleasant, flavours meld together, smooth and mellow
Untoasted spices:
Individual flavours pop, hits hard
While toasting and/ or toasting & grinding whole spices is a crucial part of getting the most flavor out of them, another, equally important step comes into play in many recipes: blooming the spices in oil.
2. There are two very good reasons for frying ground spices in oil (blooming), one chemical and the other physical.
First, heating up the spices in oil releases fat-soluble flavor compounds contained within spices like cumin and coriander. Second, adding spices to cooking oil will distribute their flavor far more efficiently in the finished dish than either adding them to the liquid component or stirring them in at the end.
Bloomed spices:
Tasty, cohesive
Spices added to the end:
Individual spices stand out
Tomato forward
Disjointed
3. Try roasting the spices in a teaspoon of oil- when stored ground in bulk
Frying spices in oil gives them a completely different flavor, it enhances the original flavors of a spice, making them bolder and more intense, almost as if they've become more sure of themselves. In short, oil-fried spices have a brighter and fresher aroma but for immediate recipes..
When to add spices for nutrition:
Each spice has a particular element or molecule that's responsible for its potency.
When it comes to nutrition, heat can activate certain compounds but deactivate others. This is why it's important to not brown the spices as it'll diminish it's properties.
Most spices and many herbs are fat soluble (i.e. they need a fat base to release their potent bioactive compounds), which is why we often toast and bloom them in oil.
Turmeric, for example, contains a potent compound called curcumin, which has been studied for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Unfortunately, curcumin is not always well absorbed in the body. To make these properties more bioavailable, they need to be activated by heat and fat. In other words, adding turmeric to hot oil at the start is the best way to ensure optimal nutrition.
In terms of nutrition, different spices react differently to heat. While some can withstand high temperatures, some loose their nutrients, while some can actually become more beneficial with heat.
Only thing to keep in mind: Ground spices can burn fairly quickly, so keep an eye on them when they hit the oil, and be ready to add some kind of liquid to prevent scorching if necessary.
While spices need some sort of chemical (fat, water, alcohol) or physical (like heat) triggering agent to bring out the inner compounds.
But there’s no black and white answer to this. Nearly all are at least somewhat both.
A reasonable brief answer is to say that in general the dominant flavor components of most spices and herbs are primarily oil soluble.
Drilling down a bit, the woodier things, like pandan, thyme and rosemary, have the least water-soluble flavor. Tender things like parsley, coriander may have more water solubility.
Also, the duration and temperature at which they are exposed to the media (oil, water) can dramatically impact both how soluble they are, as well as possibly modifying the flavor of the compound itself - sometimes positively sometimes not.
MJ
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