The Power of Spices: Unlocking the Secrets of Indian Cuisine

Everything you see in front of you this is the only thing that adds flavor to food absolutely it's a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, or any kind of vegetable. It just is so from one cuisine to another the transformation of the dish yeah comes about through the use of seasonings and spices. We use a lot of whole spices and there's a lot of ground spices. Let's start with something simple that is fennel seed. Okay, quite often after an Indian meal when you leave the restaurant there's a bowl of fennel seeds sitting there and you're meant to take a little bit and chew on it both freshens the mouth and helps with the digestion.

How come I didn't know about this? This is going to take in a completely different direction. This is dried green mango, listen I told you before I'm willing to try anything. All right we use this as a souring agent in our food and once you get into it you'll taste the sourness. I like it if you mix it with bright things I feel like this could be a great ingredient. What's cool about this? It's a way to add acidity to a dish that's not a liquid form so let's say you wanted a dry rub right well lime juice is going to mess it up lemon juice is going to mess it up this is dried acidity.

There are different types of cinnamon, yeah and both of these believe it or not are cinnamon. Most people in the west associate for example baking with cinnamon we're going to actually use this with chicken I'm going to show you how something like cinnamon actually adds a great flavor to something that's completely unexpected. Got it cool and then grab one of these pods over here break it up and that's a cardamom pod inside is the seeds, I feel like I like this too I really like this I feel like I want to put this in a cocktail man. It all comes back to the cocktail I need to try this immediately in some gin straight up.

This I don't want you to um I don't want you to eat this one because I don't think that I will but take a deep deep deep breath and tell me if it's familiar. It's called star anise and it's used a lot in Asian cuisine, it's kind of like clove uh but a little bit goes a long way and it adds a floral quality. I mean I jokingly refer to it as like the potpourri yeah of spices because it's kind of got that pretty blend feeling to it so for example cocktails we put one of these in a cocktail, got it give that clove style flavor it works great with vodka tech drinks.

I think me and you are going to become best friends man now you're ready for some heat yes bring it on come on bring on the spices. Damn what's the Cadillac of spices we talked about the Rolex of spices it was the come on you got it Hiroshima karissa karissaman kishmiri kashmiri see I know I was specially packed this is the powdered form and that's the whole pod that's yours that's mine just the tip, just the tip a little bit come on that's it. I like that it's a little citrusy it has like a delayed you know delayed reaction and it hits you but it's not as overpowering.

This chili pepper essentially changed Indian cuisine really here's the cool thing about red chilies it's not native to India so people go on and on about Indian food and spicy. It drives me insane because guess who bought the chili pepper to India right it was Dutch portuguese and french explorers in the 15th century that started picking up chili peppers from south America which is where it's native to and bringing it around the world.

Now don't get me wrong Indians took chili peppers like you know like you do to alcohol I mean they really took to it hell yeah yeah and we use it extensively but it's only about five or six hundred years old in Indian cuisine and we've been a civilization for almost 6,000 years. Gotcha so the question is what were we eating before the chili pepper came along? We got our heat from this stuff. We got our heat from black pepper I like that introduction into these turmeric into these masala come on that's where we got flavors.

So when people say spicy yeah the original meaning is spicy the mixture is heat so now that you start to understand the difference between spices yeah, so now you get a better understanding of how things smell yeah how they taste yeah what they do yeah. So the next time you're presented with a selection of spices yep I want you to get in there smell it taste it and think to yourself like if this tastes like lawn mower flipping do I really want this in my chicken?

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enluda this is where the big boys come this is my house this is what i asked them to do okay come on over is to set us up so that i could give you a demonstration of spices okay because if you don't do it this way you're gonna be lost in the kitchen when you get to the restaurant 100 everything you see in front of you this is the only thing that adds flavor to food absolutely it's a piece of chicken a piece of broccoli or any kind of vegetable it just is so from one cuisine to another the transformation of the dish yeah comes about through the use of seasonings and spices we use a lot of whole spices and there's a lot of ground spices let's start with something simple that is fennel seed okay quite often after an indian meal when you leave the restaurant there's a bowl of fennel seeds sitting there and you're meant to take a little bit and chew on it both freshens the mouth and helps with the digestion how come i didn't how come i never knew about this this is going to take in a completely different direction this is dried green mango listen i told you before i'm willing to try anything all right we use this as a souring agent in our food and once you get into it you'll taste the sourness i like it if you mix it with the bright things i feel like this could be a great ingredient and what's cool about this it's a way to add acidity to a dish that's not a liquid form so let's say you wanted a dry rub right well lime juice is going to mess it up lemon juice is going to mess it up this is dried acidity there's different types of cinnamon yeah and both of these believe it or not are cinnamon most people in the west associate for example baking with cinnamon we're going to actually use this with chicken i'm going to show you how something like cinnamon actually adds a great flavor to something that's completely unexpected got it cool and then grab one of these pods over here break it up and that's a cardamom pot inside is the seeds i feel like i like this too i really like this i feel like i want to put this in a cocktail man it all comes back to the cocktail i need to try this immediately in some gin straight up this i don't want you to um i don't want you to eat this one because i don't think that i will but take a deep deep deep breath and tell me if it's familiar it's called star anise and it's used a lot in asian cuisine it's kind of like clove uh but a little bit goes a long way and it adds a floral quality i mean i jokingly refer to it as like the potpourri yeah of spices because it's kind of got that pretty blend feeling to it so for example cocktails uh we put one of these in a cocktail got it give that clove style flavor it works great with vodka tech drinks i think me and you are going to become best friends man now you ready for some heat yes bring it on come on bring on the heat bring on the spices damn what's the cadillac of spices we talked about the rolex of spices it was the come on you got it hiroshima karissa karissaman kishmiri kashmiri see i know i was specially packed this is the powdered form and that's the whole pod that's yours that's mine just the tip just the tip a little bit come on that's it i like that it's a little citrusy it has like a delayed you know delayed reaction and it hits you but it's not as overpowering this chili pepper essentially changed indian cuisine really here's the cool thing about red chilies it's not native to india so people go on and on about indian food and spicy it drives me insane because guess who bought the chili pepper to india right it was dutch portuguese and french explorers in the 15th century that started picking up chili peppers from south america which is where it's native to and bringing it around the world now don't get me wrong indians took chili peppers like you know like you do to alcohol i mean they really took to it hell yeah yeah and and we use it extensively but it's only about five or six hundred years old in indian cuisine and we've been a civilization for almost 6 000 years gotcha so the question is what were we eating before the chili pepper came along we got our heat from this stuff got it we got our heat from black pepper i like that introduction into these turmeric into these masala come on that's where we got flavors so when people say spicy yeah the original meaning is spicy the mixture is heat so now that you start to understand the difference between spices yes so now you get a better understanding of how things smell yes how they taste yes what they do yeah so the next time you're presented with a selection of spices yep i want you to get in there smell it taste it and think to yourself like if this tastes like lawn mower flipping do i really want this in my chicken got it good point great point youluda this is where the big boys come this is my house this is what i asked them to do okay come on over is to set us up so that i could give you a demonstration of spices okay because if you don't do it this way you're gonna be lost in the kitchen when you get to the restaurant 100 everything you see in front of you this is the only thing that adds flavor to food absolutely it's a piece of chicken a piece of broccoli or any kind of vegetable it just is so from one cuisine to another the transformation of the dish yeah comes about through the use of seasonings and spices we use a lot of whole spices and there's a lot of ground spices let's start with something simple that is fennel seed okay quite often after an indian meal when you leave the restaurant there's a bowl of fennel seeds sitting there and you're meant to take a little bit and chew on it both freshens the mouth and helps with the digestion how come i didn't how come i never knew about this this is going to take in a completely different direction this is dried green mango listen i told you before i'm willing to try anything all right we use this as a souring agent in our food and once you get into it you'll taste the sourness i like it if you mix it with the bright things i feel like this could be a great ingredient and what's cool about this it's a way to add acidity to a dish that's not a liquid form so let's say you wanted a dry rub right well lime juice is going to mess it up lemon juice is going to mess it up this is dried acidity there's different types of cinnamon yeah and both of these believe it or not are cinnamon most people in the west associate for example baking with cinnamon we're going to actually use this with chicken i'm going to show you how something like cinnamon actually adds a great flavor to something that's completely unexpected got it cool and then grab one of these pods over here break it up and that's a cardamom pot inside is the seeds i feel like i like this too i really like this i feel like i want to put this in a cocktail man it all comes back to the cocktail i need to try this immediately in some gin straight up this i don't want you to um i don't want you to eat this one because i don't think that i will but take a deep deep deep breath and tell me if it's familiar it's called star anise and it's used a lot in asian cuisine it's kind of like clove uh but a little bit goes a long way and it adds a floral quality i mean i jokingly refer to it as like the potpourri yeah of spices because it's kind of got that pretty blend feeling to it so for example cocktails uh we put one of these in a cocktail got it give that clove style flavor it works great with vodka tech drinks i think me and you are going to become best friends man now you ready for some heat yes bring it on come on bring on the heat bring on the spices damn what's the cadillac of spices we talked about the rolex of spices it was the come on you got it hiroshima karissa karissaman kishmiri kashmiri see i know i was specially packed this is the powdered form and that's the whole pod that's yours that's mine just the tip just the tip a little bit come on that's it i like that it's a little citrusy it has like a delayed you know delayed reaction and it hits you but it's not as overpowering this chili pepper essentially changed indian cuisine really here's the cool thing about red chilies it's not native to india so people go on and on about indian food and spicy it drives me insane because guess who bought the chili pepper to india right it was dutch portuguese and french explorers in the 15th century that started picking up chili peppers from south america which is where it's native to and bringing it around the world now don't get me wrong indians took chili peppers like you know like you do to alcohol i mean they really took to it hell yeah yeah and and we use it extensively but it's only about five or six hundred years old in indian cuisine and we've been a civilization for almost 6 000 years gotcha so the question is what were we eating before the chili pepper came along we got our heat from this stuff got it we got our heat from black pepper i like that introduction into these turmeric into these masala come on that's where we got flavors so when people say spicy yeah the original meaning is spicy the mixture is heat so now that you start to understand the difference between spices yes so now you get a better understanding of how things smell yes how they taste yes what they do yeah so the next time you're presented with a selection of spices yep i want you to get in there smell it taste it and think to yourself like if this tastes like lawn mower flipping do i really want this in my chicken got it good point great point you\n"