Roasting Spices

Here are three spices, directly from the spice jars:  whole coriander seeds, fennel and whole cumin seeds.

A way to boost the flavor is by roasting.

Heat a pan (not a non-stick pan) over a medium-high flame until the pan is hot.

Add the spices and toss frequently to turn them over.  You do not need any oil--the spices will release their natural oils.

They are just starting to brown. 

See how brown they become?  And fragrant!

Pour them out of the pan when they are brown and let them cool.  (If you leave them in a hot pan, they will continue to cook and may even burn.)

Once cooled, you will need to grind them using either a mortar and pestle:




















Or a spice grinder:

Run grinder for 30 seconds. 

Ground up spices from the spice grinder.

Here's how the mortar and pestle spices look when ground:

Side by side comparison:

Either way works just fine, but if you prefer your spices finely ground you will want to use an electric spice grinder.  If you like the looks of roughly ground spices, the mortar and pestle are perfectly good.

You can use this mixture as a rub on pork, chicken, lamb or beef.


I added some other seasonings and cooked up some pork cubes in my pressure cooker.

Fresh parsley, cayenne pepper and paprika.

Smashed garlic cloves.

My freshly roasted and mixed spice blend.

Next week:  Using this to make delicious spicy pork in the pressure cooker!