Panch phoron (পাঁচ ফোড়ন pãch pho?on) is a whole spice blend used as a flavor enhancer to a number of dishes on Bangladesh. The name literally means “five spices”.
Unlike most spice mixes, panch phoron is always used whole and never ground. Traditionally, panch phoron is used with vegetables, chicken or beef curry, fish, lentils, shukto and in pickles.
In traditional Bengali cuisine, panch phoron is typically fried in cooking oil or ghee, which causes it to immediately begin popping. This technique is known as “tempering”, ?????? (baga?) in Bengali. After tempering, other ingredientsmay be added to the mixture or the tempered spices may be added to the dish whose flavors it is intending to enhance.
Ingredients
All seeds are in equal amounts:
- cumin seeds
- fennel seeds
- fenugreek seeds
- black mustard seeds
- nigella
Step
- Mix them together. 🙂
Easy on the Fenugreek – it’s very potent. I’d only use a half measure of it in this recipe.