Store cupboard essentials

I'm not thinking about the usual stuff (flour, stock cubes etc.), but the little things that you keep in the cupboard that cause others to say "oooh, what's in this?" or just make that little difference that lifts a dish.

I have a few;
Black cummin seed - they have a slightly softer flavour than the more common cummin seed.
Fennel seed. Great with pulses or added to a tomato sauce.
Onion seed. A real all-rounder. Add to bread or pizza dough, baked beans, creamed leaks or many other savoury dishes.
(all the above are used in pukka pillau rice along with cinnamon, cardamon pods, cloves and saffron)
Palm sugar and dried lime leaves - essential in most S/E Asian curries.
Waitrose own brand anchovies in extra virgin olive oil. These are intense! Half of one of these added to a tomato sauce lifts it to another level (without making it fishy strangely enough).
Pearl barley and dried mung beans.
Cider and blackcurrant vinegars.
Mama Sitas' vegetarian oyster sauce.
Black beans with ginger - add to most S/E Asian dishes in small amounts.

That's a start. What do you keep in your cupboard?

 

I got a jar of Lahore Fish Masala spice mix, it's lasted years, made the mistake of putting a whole teaspoon in a dish when I first got it, had to throw the food out, too hot to eat

 

Sumac -a brown citrussy powder, great for garnishing hommous, also for sprinkling onto roast chicken for a Middle Eastern touch. Also would be good on a potato salad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumac

Chinkiang black vinegar

 

Vanilla pods

 

Tamarind paste, Coconut toddi vinegar, kashmiri masala paste, rice and gram flours....anything to get through another wet, miserable european winter

 

Sugar coated Rose Petals....

 

Harissa
Ras El Hanout
Both give a special something to Morocccan/North African dishes.
Caraway Seed (out of fashion I think, but delicioso in winter cabbage soup and also on homemade bread)
Tamarind (I have a block of it for curries)

Some interesting things posted by others I will be looking up with a view to using, good topic.

GG

 

recently discovered "pancha phoran" as a base to build up a curry sauce from. Lovely with tarka dhal,

 

Jar of 100% Polish spirit with strawberries soaking in it. It's kept for a long time as we're scared stiff of it!

 

Where do I start

Lemon grass, Tamarind paste, lime leaves, palm sugar and nam pla (fish sauce) for my thai dishes.

Smoked paprika, saffron for my paellas

Sichuan peppercorns

 

Jessie!!!!

Have you tried rose water? Uber decadent, but worth the effort occasionally.

Is this it? I have everything that I need to make that.

I'm struggling to find Dulce pimenton around here at the moment, although I can get the Picanté pimenton easily enough.

 

I've got a block of that too, so sad when you see what its made from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamarin

 

Yes - that's the stuff. Just fry it in hot oil until it starts to brown and pop then remove from heat to stop it burning then add other spices as required,
Jenny

 

Got mine from ebay with a whole load of other stuff

 

I like to eat it with that pasta that grows on trees.