herbsandspices.food The reference guide to herbs and spices
Chilli Compare Spice Finder

🔥 Techniques

Toasting, tempering, grinding, drying and taming a dish that is too hot.

18 pages in this section

Blooming spices in oil
Waking up ground spices in warm fat
Blooming means cooking ground spices briefly in warm oil or butter so their fat-soluble flavours dissolve and the raw, dusty taste disappears. It takes under a minute and…
Chopping herbs
A sharp knife, dry leaves and knowing when to stop
How to chop, slice and tear herbs without bruising them: picking leaves, the rocking cut, chiffonade for basil, snipping chives, and which stalks are worth keeping.
Cooling a dish that's too hot
You cannot remove chilli heat, but you can dilute it and distract from it
What to do when a curry, chilli or sauce is too spicy: dilution, dairy, fat, sugar, acid and starch, which fixes work for which dishes, and how to stop it happening next …
Dry rubs and marinades
What they can and cannot do to a piece of meat
How dry rubs and wet marinades work, what they actually penetrate, how long to leave them, the right balance of salt, sugar, acid and spice, and how to use them safely.
Drying herbs
Warm, dark, airy and dry: four ways to get there
How to dry herbs at home by hanging, on racks, in a dehydrator, oven or microwave: which herbs are worth drying, temperatures and times, how to tell when they are done, a…
Fermenting chillies
Salt, time and lactic acid bacteria
How to lacto-ferment chillies in brine or as a salted mash for hot sauce: salt percentages by weight, temperatures, how long to wait, and how to tell harmless yeast from …
Freezing herbs
The better way to keep soft herbs
Freezing preserves the flavour of soft herbs such as basil, parsley and coriander far better than drying. How to freeze them whole, chopped, in oil or water, and how long…
Fresh vs dried herbs
Three to one, and which herbs are worth drying at all
When to use fresh herbs and when dried ones are better, how to convert between them (roughly three parts fresh to one part dried), and which herbs lose almost everything …
Grinding spices
Freshly ground is the single biggest upgrade in a spice cupboard
Grinding whole spices just before use gives far more aroma than buying them ground. How to do it by hand or machine, how fine to go, and how to handle awkward spices like…
Handling chillies safely
Gloves, ventilation and not touching your eyes
How to prepare hot chillies without burning your hands, eyes or lungs: gloves, cleaning up capsaicin, dealing with chilli burn on skin and in eyes, and extra precautions …
Infusing oils, butters and vinegars
Flavour into fat and acid, and how to do it safely
How to infuse oils, butters and vinegars with herbs, spices, garlic and chilli, hot or cold, and how to avoid the real risk of botulism when fresh garlic or herbs sit in …
Making a spice blend
Proportions, order and a little patience
How to make your own spice blends: weighing versus measuring, toasting and grinding in the right order, balancing base, character and accent spices, and storing the resul…
Making chilli oil
Hot oil, crushed chilli and a precise pour
How to make Sichuan-style red chilli oil at home: choosing the chilli, infusing aromatics, the right oil temperature for the pour, and how to store it safely.
Rehydrating dried chillies
Toast, soak, blend: the foundation of Mexican sauces
How to prepare whole dried chillies such as ancho, guajillo and chipotle: cleaning, toasting without burning, soaking times, what to do with the soaking liquid, and blend…
Tempering spices (tadka)
Whole spices fried in hot fat, poured over at the last moment
Tempering, or tadka, means frying whole spices and aromatics in hot ghee or oil for seconds, then pouring the sizzling fat over a dish. It is the finishing touch of count…
Toasting spices
A dry pan, two minutes and your full attention
Dry-toasting whole spices in a pan or oven deepens their flavour and makes them easier to grind. The whole job takes a few minutes; the skill is knowing when to stop.
When to add herbs and spices
Hard herbs early, soft herbs late, and why
The timing of herbs and spices shapes a dish as much as the choice of them. A practical guide to what goes in at the start, what goes in during cooking, and what belongs …
Whole vs ground spices
Which form to buy, and how to swap one for the other
Whole spices keep longer and taste fresher; ground spices are quicker and blend invisibly. When to use each, how they behave in cooking, and a conversion table for swappi…