Spice Guide

Consistency and quality control have been a hallmark of Patak's Foods since the company was founded. The flavor of Patak's® products is heavily dependent on the quality and freshness of the herbs and spices used and as such Kirit Pathak personally supervises their selection and importation from India and around the world.

It is the grinding process that releases aromatic oils from spices and these oils create the delicious flavors of Indian cuisine. Once ground, the flavors of the volatile oils fade rapidly.

With that in mind, one of the many things that set Patak's apart from other manufacturers is that the whole spices are ground at the point of manufacture to ensure freshness of flavor is retained.

Some herbs & spices commonly used in Indian cooking:

Clove / Laung / Lavang

Cloves are the unopened flower buds of the clove tree. Were they left to open; these same buds would produce remarkably delicate flowers. After picking they are dried in the traditional way, sun-drying them on woven mats. They lose their moisture, become hard and reddish-brown in color. The best cloves have deep reddish-brown stems though in comparison a lighter crown; they tend to be rough to touch, exude a small quantity of oil if compressed with a fingernail and snap cleanly between the two.

Cloves have an extremely strong and pungent aroma, with notes of pepper and camphor. The taste is rich and warm, aromatic and fruity but also sharp, hot and bitter, creating a numbing sensation on the tongue. This characteristic taste is dominated by the eugenol in the essential oil and is the reason why cloves must be used sparingly as they can easily overpower other spices used in dishes.

The Molucca Islands of Indonesia are believed to be the origin of cloves, and remain their largest producer. It is Zanzibar and Madagascar, however, who export the most cloves as Indonesia's produce rarely gets a chance to leave the country due to their popularity there.

As with chilies, cloves have found uses in all parts of the world, from an ingredient in stews, cheese and apple pies to a flavoring for ham in America; from a five spice powder in China to the extremely popular kretek cigarettes in Indonesia. In Indian cuisine, cloves are particularly used in masalas, pilau rice and various cooking sauces.

Cloves are used to make Patak's® Garam Masala, Jalfrezi and Rogan Josh pastes. Korma also has hints of ground cloves in it.

Did you know?

Cloves are known to have antiseptic properties and their smell is often associated with the dentist. At the time of the early Chinese civilization commoners chewed cloves to sweeten their breath before talking to the emperor. The Chinese also used cloves as a mild anesthetic for toothache.