If you do one new thing with spices this year, make it this. Toasting whole spices in a dry pan for a couple of minutes wakes up flavors that sit dormant in the jar. It is the kind of small step that makes people ask what your secret is.
What toasting does
Heat releases and transforms the aromatic oils locked inside whole spices. Raw cumin smells flat next to cumin that has been toasted until it is fragrant and nutty. The same goes for coriander, fennel, mustard seed, peppercorns, and whole dried chiles. The flavor goes from one-dimensional to deep and rounded.
The method
- Use a dry skillet, no oil, over medium heat.
- Add the whole spices and shake the pan often so they toast evenly.
- In a minute or two they will darken slightly and smell strongly fragrant.
Watch closely and grind
The line between toasted and burnt is thin, and burnt spices turn bitter. Pull them off the heat the moment they smell ready and tip them onto a plate so they stop cooking. Let them cool, then grind them in a mortar or a dedicated coffee grinder. Toast only what you will use soon, since the boosted aroma fades over time. This trick works at the start of almost any curry, stew, or rub.