Home-made spice blends, cream, stock powder, etc

This page brings together a variety of herb and spice blends which I have gathered together over the years.  Quite apart from the facts that making your own blends, rather than buying them ready-made is a lot cheaper, you also have control over the ingredients and can ensure that they mix is how it should be, rather than how the manufacturer decided it should be because one of the herbs or spices is expensive and might reduce the profit margin.  It also ensures that the blends aren't adulterated with MSG, additional chemical flavourings, colourings or preservatives,  which we might not want in our lives.

 

For they voyaging sailor, they have the additional advantage that you can always have the blends you want to hand, even if they are unavailable in the local shops.  If they are needed in any of the recipes, I try to ensure that there's a link to this page, so that you know you can make your own.

 

Bengali Five-Spice Blend - Panch Phoron

 

Panch phoron is a spice blend used in Eastern India, in Bengali, Assamese, and Oriya cuisine and also in Bangladesh and Nepal. It is a blend of black mustard, nigella, fennel, fenugreek and brown cumin seeds and, really, it couldn’t be easier to make!

 

According from which region the blend is made, the five spices can be added in equal quantities or vary slightly. I make mine with equal quantities of mustard, fennel, cumin, and nigella seeds and half the amount of fenugreek seeds, which have a bitterness that can be a bit overwhelming for some people, although I love it. Panch phoron is typically fried in hot oil, which causes the spices to start popping to release the flavours and temper the oil.

 

This spice blend is worth having to hand when you are in a bit of a hurry and want something that tastes good, but without putting in too much effort. Make a simple dal or vegetable dish, by frying the usual garlic, ginger and diced green chilli together, with a chopped onion, if you want. Then add the dal/vegetables and cook to your taste. You can then fry a tsp of panch phoron in some oil and add this tempering to the dal or vegetable dish before serving.

Burger Spice

 

I created this blend to go with the seitan burgers that I make, because seitan has no particular flavour of its own and takes kindly to added herbs and spices. However, I reckon it would add flavour to any sort of vegetarian burger and should go well in your favourite bean burger recipe. You might also add it to a bean stew that seems to be a bit bland. I would recommend using about 1 tsp per burger.

Burger spice

  

Vegan cream

 

Blender altert

 

While most vegetarians happily eat dairy products, there is definitely a spectrum between an easy-going vegetarian (happy to eat caged eggs and factory-farmed milk products), and a full-on vegan (no honey or wool).  Personally, I'm towards the vegan end of the spectrum and left to my own devices, I won't eat any by-product of cows.  When I'm with other people I sometimes eat cheese, just because it's easier than causing a fuss.  I would also eat cheese from the Mahoe Dairy in the Bay of Islands, because I've been to their farm and seen how well the cows are treated.  But even if it were readily available in my local supermarket, I would still only eat it occasionally.

 

Apparently, soya cream and various alternatives are readily available in some parts of the world, but not in Northland and I suspect not in many places where a small-income veg~an may end up voyaging.  That being so, the only alternative to dairy, is to make a substitute.  Fortunately, the homework has been done for me and I can simply copy the recipe for you!

Vegan cream