5 Pillars of Taste

Spices are the main ingredient that make Pakistani cuisine uniquely colorful, aromatic, and flavorful.

If this is your first time learning about Pakistani food, your first question must be what should I buy and where?

My recommendation is to check out your local Indian/Pakistani spice store(yay for supporting your local small businesses!) for the best spices. Trust me, spices at an Indian/Pakistani store are going to be a fraction of the price compared to a regular grocery store (think Trader Joes, Safeway etc). My mom always bought spices from Shan and I myself am a life long Shan spices lover!

Now that I have covered where you can find these spices. Let's discuss what are the main spices you need to have in your kitchen? Pakistani cuisine is known for its complex and innumerable spices, but we are going to keep it simple today. These are the 5 spices that you must have in your kitchen if you want to make Pakistani food!

Red Chili Powder:

Red chili powder is the main spice kick in most Pakistani dishes and is a must have. Pakistani cuisine is generally spicy and this spice is the main ingredient to play around with depending on your spice tolerance. My favorite these days is the Kashmiri chili with a beautiful and radiant red color.

Coriander:

Depending on what is available at your nearest grocery store, you can buy coriander seeds or coriander powder. For simplicity, I recommend starting off with coriander powder to avoid dealing with the hassle of grinding up coriander seeds into powder.

Cumin:

Cumin and coriander go hand in hand like ginger and garlic! Similar to coriander, you can purchase cumin seeds and grind them into a powder, but I recommend keeping it simple and buying cumin powder from a store. In future posts, I will share when and how cumin and coriander seeds are used.

Turmeric:

Turmeric has anti-inflammation properties and adds a beautiful yellow tinge of color in Pakistani curries. This is a potent spice, so use it in moderation!

Garam Masala:

Garam masala is actually a mix of a bunch of spices ground together, but we will get to that in the future. For now, you don't have to worry about how garam masala is made. You can go to your nearest Indian/Pakistani grocery store and find garam masala there.

Live in a place with no local Indian/Pakistani grocery stores? Checkout Shan's selection on Amazon Pantry!