Coriander and Cumin Powder

Coriander and cumin powder (also known as Dhana - jiru) is a mixture of crushed whole cumin and coriander seeds. It has a deep, distinctive taste that is often used to season dishes. It is often used within vegetarian cooking, and lots of it is used. It is also often used as the main base for making a more complex curry powder which is a mixture of many spices. This spice can be bought ready made within a shop, or can be made using the whole ingredients and blending them. Freshly made coriander and cumin powder is much more flavourful and intense and can instantly enhance the flavour of a dish.

The mixture of this powder is in equal proportions, and some are used with black pepper to enhance the heat and spiciness of the powder. In northern Indian cooking, there is often no pepper used within this mixture, leading to a mild flavour rather than extreme heat and spice, leading to a more flavourful and deep tone to dishes. This powder is mellow brown in colour, very similar to the colour of garam masala buy slightly more green from the coriander seeds.

This spice also has many health benefits. Not only does it have a deep flavour, the seeds used to create them have many healing and cooling properties, making it useful in medicine as well as culinary purposes. The coriander used within the powder has many pain relieving properties, such as from headaches, muscle pain, stiffness and arthritis. It can also be mixed with other substances to aid the digestive system properly.