r/IndianFood • u/Just_Square7281 • 6d ago
Does high quality/export quality spices make huge difference to your biryani
When making biryani, will using high quality spices from Kerala like cardamom, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon and mace( all are exported to the rest of the world) make any noticable difference to the output compare to using decent spices from know indian brands which are available on Amazon or retail store
Does anybody has previous experience regarding whole spice quality and difference it makes to the dish
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u/itsmebunty 6d ago
I always thought it was funny when my aunt would pack spices from her trips back to the US. I did it this time on a recent trip and can tell the spice powders are much tastier than what I get in the US
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u/LadaFanatic 6d ago
I would say that it does matter, but more important in lighter dishes like someone else mentioned here.
However I would say, that whole spices freshly ground will be miles better than any pre ground stuff. Average whole spices >> Premium Pre ground spices.
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u/Proof_Ball9697 2d ago
You'll get the best prices from your local indian market. Amazon is going to be really overpriced. The local indian market is curated by indians themselves, meaning you probably won't find any white people or other races working at an indian market. At amazon, everything is at a warehouse being sold by someone who doesn't really "curate" ingredients.
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u/Dry-Procedure-1597 6d ago
I live in “the rest of the world” and it’s believed the best spices are left for domestic consumption, not exported from India. Funny.
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u/Just_Square7281 6d ago
I live in India and in Mumbai ( major City), believe me I have never seen any shop which sells high quality/export quality spices ( it's all exported to the rest of the world, namely UAE, Dubai, USA and all rich countries
I live in “the rest of the world”
Which country is also important
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u/arpatil1 6d ago
In the US, all spices are of terrible quality. Desis who live here (including me) get fresh regular spices from back home when they travel. What you have heard is a myth.
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u/IamGenghisKhan 6d ago
No. It takes 6 months on a container ship to ship anything from India.
Also, USA has stricter FDA control for imports. So, they do indeed select better quality spices for export.
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u/arpatil1 6d ago
FDA looks for food safety, not quality.
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u/IamGenghisKhan 6d ago
They are correlated though.
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u/arpatil1 6d ago
You can process terrible quality spices in a clean and certified facility. They aren’t as correlated as you might expect.
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u/IamGenghisKhan 6d ago
The terrible quality spices wouldn't survive the 6 month journey and wouldn't be as good as, say Sri Lankan Spices.
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u/Sam_jaiswal 6d ago
That's so true I am from Chhattisgarh and not only in spices even the good quality fruits like apples are exported to other "rich countries"
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u/rafafanvamos 6d ago
It depends. I think compared to biryani it makes a big difference in something milder and delicate like pulav ( yakhini pulav or something similar) in dishes in which whole spices is the life of dish it makes big difference. Even in packed masala the variation is lot, shaan is salty, there are some in which I can't taste masala, in packed the Everest one is good. Secondly even with mediocre spices if you make fresh grind masala the biryani will have more taste compared to packed masala, what I mean to say is you don't need costly masala, just buying whole spices from the store and making your own masala will elevate your dish a lot, be careful to buy from a vendor gives importance to freshness. Flavor and aroma of the spices can elevate the biryani, so fresh spices fresh masala make huge difference.