Indian Spice & Herb Dictionary - C

C
Text by: Tanya Munshi
Cambodge – popularly known as – Malabar Tamarind. This fruit’s rinds are used for flavouring curries. Cambodge is widely used in Sri Lankan and Malaysian cooking as well.

Cinnamon Cassia– Hindi – Kashash. The dried form of the cassia bark is used as a spice. It is also known to have medicinal properties curing joint pains and fever.

Cinnamon – Hindi – Dalchini, Darchini. This is a popular spice known all across India. It is mainly used in small proportions to flavour meat or chicken dishes, kheer, chocolates, dried fruits and baked products. It offers a lovely bitter, sweet and woody flavour and smell to the food item. It has medicinal properties such as – cinnamon oil has anti-fungal properties and this spice is known to help diabetic patients digest sugar with ease.

Cardamom – Hindi – Elaichi. Cardamom is also a very popular spice across India. It is used to flavour curries, kheer, masala tea and cardamom milk. A single pod of cardamom can be chewed to cleanse the palate as an after mint and for fresh breath. Cardamom tea is known be soothing for a person suffering from cold and cough.

Celery – Hindi – Randhuni, Shalari, Ajmud. Celery leaves and stalks are used in soups, vegetable broths, salads, ice creams and baked products. It has medicinal properties to treat liver disorders and in controlling asthma.

Chilli – Hindi – Mirchi. Chilli as in red chilli in powdered form is used extensively in India to add a spicy flavour and a red colour to the curries. Dry red chillies are also fried in ghee, butter or oil and added to dal for tempering or tadka. Kashmiri red chillies are famous as they are known to enhance flavour and colour to Indian cuisines. This spice is omnipresent in almost all dishes in varying amounts – be it vegetarian or a non-vegetarian dish. Interestingly, chillies are a good source of Vitamin C. In certain parts of India, such as West Bengal it is customary to have a raw green chilli along with your meal.

Clove – Hindi – Laung. Did your grand mom ever place a clove in your mouth whenever you had a tooth ache or a swollen gum? Well, that’s clove for you. Again, clove is used to flavour curries, especially meat dishes, added to kheer and sweet meats in India. It has medicinal properties such as helping diabetic patients in absorbing sugar with ease and in relieving toothaches.

Coriander – Hindi – Dhaniya. Coriander powder is used as a spice to flavour curries. The powder looks grainy and kind of smells a little woody. On the other hand, fresh coriander leaves are a treat. They not only offer a beautiful aroma to the cuisine, but also enhance the look of any dish if used as garnishing. Rajma (red kidney beans), chicken, mutton or fish curry look appetizing with garnished with chopped fresh green coriander leaves. It has medicinal properties as well, where it is used to cure nausea, fever and stomach disorders.

Cumin – Hindi – Jeera. Cumin seeds are used to flavour a curry, by simply adding a teaspoon or two into the hot oil in which the curry will be cooked. Cumin seeds offer a beautiful aromatic flavour to the entire curry. Cumin seeds are also used to season baked products as well. This ingredient is known to have medicinal properties such as curing stomach disorders.

Curry Leaf – Hindi – Curry Patta. This leaf is predominantly used in the Western Ghats, Konkan and the southern belt of India. Curry leaves form a predominant role in flavouring vegetarian and non-vegetarian cuisines across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and the Konkan regions of India. It offers a strong aromatic flavour and can get the hunger pangs running overdrive. Curry leaves are used to temper dal, sambar, rasam and tastes delicious with chicken and meat. Today, due to cross cultural cuisines spreading across India, curry leaves are used by other cultures as well.