The Pizzazzy

Back with the second segment of Spice up.

Nutmeg:
The nutmeg is the fruit of the plant. It is the seed of the fruit which is used mostly in the preparation of sweets. I carried back two packets of nutmeg containing some 10-12 in each. And then when I was giving 2-3 to each of my friend as gifts they told me it was sufficient for around 5 years. So little in quantity is Nutmeg used because of its strong sedative nature. The powder is also used in small quantities in the garam masala and also known as jaiphal.

I must tell you this interesting thing that the nutmeg plants are classified by their genders, there are male plants and female plants and in order for them to fruit they need to be planted close by. So, our guide told us that the nutmegs were planted close by in an alternate pattern. He showed us how the leaves of both the plants differ in pattern. But it was very difficult for me to make out the male plant from the female plant.Then he added that usually it’s the flower which is used to differentiate between the two. A male plant can fertilize 10 female trees. One tree can produce about 5 kg of nutmeg and around 1 kg of mace. Mace is the outer fruit again used as a condiment.

Nutmeg is poisonous if consumed in large quantities.

Cloves:
These are the dried flower buds of trees which grow up to 10-20 meters. The flowers are of crimson color. The flower buds are picked when they are bright red. Cloves used in almost all the dishes. Usually used whole they can be ground to give stronger taste. Adding whole adds to the presentation of various dishes of rice. It is also known for the medicinal usage. I have myself used it many a times for toothaches and it is commonly used as a main ingredient in herbal tooth pastes.

Asafoetida:
This spice is extracted from the stems and root of Ferula plants. These plants are small plants with hollow stems and yellow flowers. The sap of the stem and root are dried. It gives out distinctive sulphur like smell. It is usually grounded and used to add flavour to curries. Commonly available is the grounded powder form and it is used as digestive aid in food and pickles. I remember one of our acquaintances used to make pickles with lots of asafoetida speciality of northern India.

Allspice:
Our guide crushed a fresh leave in his fingers and let all of us smell it. Each one of us came up with the name of different spice. To me it smelled more like cinnamon. True to its name allspice combines the flavour of many spices. Since I had never heard of such a thing I was quite interested. It combines the flavour of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves etc. The fragrance also hints at garlic, chilli, pepper. In some countries allspice is the spice singularly used to attain the flavour of many spices. All spice is the fruit which is like pepper, and reddish brown in colour. The fresh leaves look like bay leaves and can be also used as whole like bay leaves. The tree also resembles the bay tree. He also added that there are male plant and female plant just like nutmeg.

Kokum:
The Kokum trees are huge and green mostly found along the western ghats in India. It is the fruit peel of this tree that is commonly used in Maharashtra as a substitute of tamarind to add sour taste to curries. Kokum juice is commonly used during summer as it has a cooling and refreshing effect. Kokum has a sweet-sour taste. It is also believed to have medicinal use. It acts as an antacid and helps in digestion also. Kokum is the main ingredient in the coconut based digestive drink - Solkadi, one of my favourites.

Don’t forget to drop by @ Savoi plantation in Goa and also try out the amazing Goan food there.