Jasmine rice, also known as Thai fragrant rice, is an aromatic â??long-grainâ?? rice where each grain is about four times as long as it is wide. Jasmine rice comes in a variety of colors. White jasmine rice, in particular, is largely processed and has more nutritional similarities to white rice than to brown jasmine rice.
All-purpose flour is a good source of iron and calcium, as its made up of endosperm of wheat grains. That contains most of the nutritional value, including vitamin B3 (niacin), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), thiamine and folic acid. It is high in protein, fibre, fat and iron, which play a key role in your overall health.
Cumin (jeera) can be identified by its distinct ridged brown seeds and intense fragrance. Cumin is used to add a distinct smoky note and a robust flavour to most Indian curries. So, it is often used as a whole, to flavour rice, stuffed vegetables, curries and many savoury dishes, and as a powder for puddings and buttermilk.
Saffron (Kesar) is the most expensive spice and it is a colour too. Saffron has a very subtle flavour and aroma. It is used as a culinary seasoning for chicken and meat, biriyani, pulao, etc. It adds taste, colour, and aroma to Indian sweets like Rasmalai, Kesar Pista etc. and flavours kheer, badam milk, saffron milk, etc.
While nutmeg is a shelled dried seed of a plant, mace is a dried netlike covering of the shell of the seed. While nutmeg has a distinctive pungent fragrance and a warm slightly sweet taste, mace has a more delicate flavour and gives a saffron-like hue to dishes. Both are used as a condiment for sweet products such as baked items, custards, puddings, jellies, etc.
A sweet-tasting spice with a warm and woody aroma, cinnamon chips are rough non-peelable barks scraped off from the thicker stems. Cinnamon is a wonderful spice with a pleasant taste that makes it a great ingredient to be used in cakes and desserts. It is widely used in Hyderabadi Biriyani, gravies and curry dishes in India.
Pleasantly aromatic, the Bay leaf/ tejpata has a clove-like taste and a faint pepper-like odour. The glossy, dark-green Bay leaf is oval, pointed and smooth, 2.5 â?? 8 cm (1 to 3 inches) long. Bay leaves give off a pleasing and sweet aroma that makes it a great flavouring condiment for soups, sauces, stews and pickles.
Guava, (Psidium guajava), small tropical tree or shrub of the family Myrtaceae, cultivated for its edible fruits. Guava trees are native to tropical America and are grown in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide. Guava fruits are processed into jams, jellies, and preserves and are common pastry fillings.