Indian Spice Cooking Class with Spice Girl - Chef Dominique Rizzo

Have you lost the spice in your life?

Here are my five tips from my Indian Spice Cooking Class on how to bring spice back into it.

1. Spice essentials

Stock up on the spice basics!
You cannot go wrong with a few of the “C”s – Cumin, Coriander, Cardamom, Curry powder and Curry paste;
Throw in Paprika (smoked or hot); Garam Masala and another absolute must, Turmeric.

2. All the good things about spice

The best thing is that spices are all about flavour; they are all natural with no fats or nasty chemicals added. The medicinal benefits of cooking with spices and fresh herbs have been around for centuries and we continue to learn and appreciate them more than before. Get into some Ayurvedic cooking where the food tastes so good that you will inadvertently close your eyes as you taste and savour every bite of it. And that’s before you get into the healing side of it.

3. Add colour of spice to your life and to your food

Bring the brilliant colours of the sunset into your dishes with turmeric rice and add the rich spice colours of Indian sarongs, saffron reds, bright yellows and orange into savoury dressings or a panna cotta dessert.

4. Bringing the art back into spice collections

Show off the richness of your spice powders, peppers and textures such as the wonderful aromatic star anise in a colour wheel of glass spice jars in your kitchen;
or simply store them in your pantry.

Buy spices whole and grind them yourself;
Or buy them in small amounts and store then in your fridge or freezer so that no flavour is lost over time.

And most importantly ……….
5. Love the heat of spice in the kitchen

Sweat it out in the kitchen not just the gym with chillies.
Whether they are green chillies or red chillies, it’s time to get that heat working, as chillies are so good for you. They get that metabolism going and punch above their weight in Vitamins C and A.

Spice is the essential ingredient no matter what you are cooking.