Saeed Ajmal, Usman Salaudin and Necessary Spices

The late Chief Dan George, A Great Canadian and author of beautiful, uplifting books.

As Chief Dan George would say :“It’s a good day to live”.  It certainly is.  It looks like my favourite spinner, the indefatigable Saeed Ajmal  will premier his new spin in the United Arab Emirates when Pakistan plays South Africa.   In his interview with PakPassion he talked about how he’s been working on this new spin for a while.   
This is very exciting indeed!  Will it be a teesra?  A spin never seen before? What on earth will it be named? 

If you're new to cricket, watch these youtube clips.  Saeed Ajmal does give the best interviews because he's just so adorable.   He is the world’s funniest cricketer, and he really should have his own show.   I could watch him talk all day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhEV3ES9kWM&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhdUX2vALLU&feature=related

Can’t wait to see that new spin!

And in other news, some are  saying that Usman Salaudin is the new Mohammed Yousef.  I haven’t seen this kid play yet,  and I’m sure he’s very good, but I like the present-day Mohammed Yousef!  Let’s just call Usman Salaudin a “future hope for Pakistan cricket”.

OK, let’s get to the cooking.  In the coming days, I’ll be showing you how to make some new salans and you will need some spices for dishes that contain meat and cauliflower.   If you live outside of Pakistan or India, you may not find these spices at the big grocery chains.  Go to the smaller Indian or Pakistani grocery shops.  If you live in Canada, you will find most of these spices at Superstore  in the East Indian Food aisle, or you can find them at the Fruiticana outlets.  If you cannot find Indian or Pakistani shops, try a Chinese grocer.  The Chinese also use a large variety of spices in their cooking, so you should find most of what you need there.

BASIC SPICES

Whole spices

Cuminseed

Mustard seed (black)

black peppercorn

 cinnamon (bark or quills NOT powdered)

Green cardamom

Black cardamom

Cloves

Star anise

Coriander seed

Bay leaves

Kasoori Methi  (dried fenugreek leaves)

Powdered Spices

Turmeric

Cumin

Lal mirch (red chili powder)

Optional powdered spices

Amchoor (green mango powder)

Anardana powder (pomegranate seed powder)

With these spices and herbs, you’ll  have everything you need to make most salans , tea masalas and desserts.  You may notice that I have not included powdered ginger or curry leaves.  That is because they are much better fresh. 

The word masala means “mix” as in a mix of spices.  Garam masala means “hot mix”.  With the list I have given you, there is no need to buy a garam masala powder.    You will learn how to make your own masala suited to your own taste.

Every now and then, you may need to crush and grind the whole spices.  Use a little mortar and pestle (mine’s from Ikea) or a spice grinder.  I prefer the mortar and pestle because I can also use it to crush and mash garlic and ginger.  Make sure the mortar has got some ridges in it.  One that’s shiny smooth on the inside won’t work very well. 

Store the spices in airtight containers, especially the kasoori methi because it has a very strong smell! 

I’ll throw in some spice theory about each spice as we go along with each recipe.  It’s better to learn it in bits rather than all at once. 

Happy cooking, and happy cricket!