Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: awclymm on September 30, 2018, 04:46 PM
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Hi
I went on a blitz when I first started on this hobby and bought all the spices used in the majority of recipes - how often should I replace these??
Thx
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Whole spices, well sealed and kept in the dark, should keep for several months; ground spices far less, and ideally are fresh-ground for each meal or at most every few days.
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Ah - so all of my packets of dried / powdered spices should be replaced then? Bugger. Cost me a small fortune....!
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Use airtight containers, store in a cool, dark cupboard.
Whole dried spices will stay good between 5 and 10 years, maybe longer
Ive never road tested anything older than 10 years. (Dried Szechuan Pepper)
Ground spices also have a long shelf life. if they are stored correctly, as above.
Probably 2 to 3 years if you don
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Given conflicting advice, I would suggest making one curry with your old ground spices, and an identical curry with freshly bought replacements. If you can tell the difference, ditch the old ones ! I label my spices in terms of year and quarter, no finer granularity, but lightly-roast and fresh-grind spices such as coriander & cumin as frequently as I can.
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coincidentally I made a curry last night and had to grind some coriander seeds and cumin seeds as I had run out of powdered. The smell was incredible, but to be honest, the final curry was no different to normal. Both packets of seeds had a 2012 use by date!!
Regards
Mick
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Thanks guys
I'm a bit conflicted by these answers - part of me was secretly hoping that a new batch of spices would take my curries into another dimension - and part of me was hoping that I wouldn't have to fork out a whole load of cash!
I'll keep what I've got and try to make improvements in my technique I think!
Cheers
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OK, good luck. All I can say is that in my own experience, binning old spices and starting afresh can really give one's curries a lift.
** Phil.
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Whole spices, well sealed and kept in the dark, should keep for several months.
And the rest !, poor advice
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Whole spices, well sealed and kept in the dark, should keep for several months.
And the rest !
Are you speaking of spices where the packing has been opened, and the spices then transferred to a secondary container, or spices left unopened in their original packaging ? In my experience, the latter will keep fresh significantly longer than the former. Even more so when discussing ground spices rather than whole, of course.
** Phil.
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Whole spices already opened and stored in jars will last longer than several months, Ive had some a year and have just ground them and taste tested against a recently purchased packet with no difference whatsoever