At this time of year, just before the first tasty shoots of spring make an appearance, I often find myself looking inside rather than outside for inspiration. Inside the spice drawer, to be precise. (Well, not that precise. I don't actually have a spice drawer. I have a shelf in the larder on which I keep most of my spices in small, recycled jam, and other, jars. Great system.)
So for the next few weeks I thought I'd showcase a trio of my favourite spices, each of which elegantly straddles the sweet and savoury realms of the senses. Let's start with cardamom, then we'll do star anise, and finally nutmeg. Get yourself a ring binder and call it a part work.
Cardamom, those pretty, papery, grey-green pods filled with neat rows of glossy black seeds, are the fruit of the Elettaria cardamomum bush indigenous to the rainforests of southern India. It's related to ginger, and basks alongside it in many Indian dressings, spice rubs, chutneys, puddings, teas and marinades.
It's a well-travelled spice, too, believed to have been brought from India toGreece by one of Alexander the Great's soldiers in the fourth century BC, where it was used in both medicinal as well as culinary concoctions. In the ninth century, the Vikings took it from Constantinople to Scandinavia, where it's still a fragrant favourite in baking and even in some versions of pickled herring.
We shouldn't be surprised – cardamom is incredibly versatile and you only really get to know its complex character when you take it away from its curry comrades. It is fruity, floral, citrussy and pungent, and its essential oil contains cineole, which gives it a dash of warming eucalyptus, too. On the sweet side, cardamom aromatises custards, rice puddings and ice-creams (see today's recipe for kulfi), giving them all a formidable whack of eastern promise. And it's very much at home with the sweeter vegetables – try a few pods bashed and scattered over roasting roots: carrots, parsnips and sweet potatoes, say, as well as pumpkins and squash. Meanwhile, its citrussy notes make it a natural companion to seafood, while its cleansing, camphorish qualities mean it's perfect for balancing out the richness in meaty stews.
In Arab countries, serving guests cardamom-flavoured coffee remains a symbol of hospitality, and for our hospitable, Anglo tea-time purposes, a sprinkling is a delicious addition toa coffee cake. For an intriguing twist on many tea-time treats, mix up a batch of spiced sugar: whisk together 200g of caster sugar with four teaspoons each of ground cardamom and cinnamon, and use itinstead of ordinary sugar in biscuits, shortbreads, scones and cakes. A Victoria sponge made with this sugar and some grated orange zest, then trickled with an orange syrup and sprinkled with lightly toasted almonds is a very special, grown-up pudding cake.
Pulla bread
Pulla is traditionally made at Christmas time in Finland, but it's adelicious, brioche-style bread to tuck into at any time. It's best the day it's made, though slightly stale slices make wonderful toast. Grind your own cardamom (10 pods worth of seeds makes about a teaspoon of ground cardamom), buy organic ground cardamom from steenbergs.co.uk (£2.25 for 53g), or look for elaichi powder in Indian food shops. Makes one loaf.
180ml whole milk
45g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
120g caster sugar
½ tsp salt
1½ tsp ground cardamom
1 egg, plus one egg yolk
300g bread flour
140g plain flour
7g sachet fast-acting yeast
To finish
1 egg white, beaten with a splash ofwater
10g flaked almonds
1½ tsp demerara sugar
In a saucepan, heat the milk until bubbles appear around the edge, then remove from the heat and addthe butter, sugar, salt and cardamom. Stir until the butter has melted, set aside to cool to room temperature, then beat in the whole egg and the egg yolk.
In a bowl, whisk the flours with the yeast. Pour the butter and milk mixture into a separate large bowl, use a wooden spoon to beat in half the flour mixture until smooth, then add the rest of the flour and combine roughly. Turn out on to a clean work surface and knead until smooth and glossy, about 10 minutes. (Alternatively, use a mixer with a dough hook.) Form the dough into asmooth ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl, covered with clingfilm and a tea towel, and leave to rise in awarm place until doubled in size. Turn out, knock back, then divide into three pieces of about 280g each.
Roll each piece into a sausage of around 40cm in length. Braid the three dough "sausages" into a plait, fixing the ends together well. Place on a baking sheet lined with a sheet of buttered baking parchment, cover again and leave to rise until doubled in size. Heat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Brush the loaf with the beaten egg white, sprinkle on the almonds and sugar, and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
Fragrant pilau
A great, flavourful pilau to serve with curries or roasted veg. Serves six.
300g basmati rice
45g clarified butter, or 3 tbsp oliveoil
2 onions, halved and finely sliced
3 cloves garlic, halved and finely sliced
1 cinnamon stick
4 cardamom pods, slightly bashed
1 tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp cumin seeds
4 curry leaves, or ¼ tsp medium curry powder
80g flaked almonds (or mix offlaked almonds and chopped pistachios
50g sultanas
1½ tsp salt
850ml chicken or vegetable stock
3 tbsp finely chopped parsley
2 tbsp finely chopped dill
Put the rice in a large bowl of cold water, swish your hand around in the water a few times, leave to soak for 15 minutes (this helps get rid of the surface starch clinging to the grains), then drain.
Over a moderate heat, warm the butter, or oil, in a heavy-bottomed, lidded saucepan or casserole and sauté the onions until soft and just starting to turn golden, about 15 minutes. Lower the heat, add the garlic, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, cumin and curry leaves, orpowder, and fry gently for afurther five minutes.
Add the nuts, sultanas, rice, salt and stock, mix together gently, then bring to a simmer and cook, covered, on a very low heat for 20minutes. Remove from the heat, do not remove the lid and leave to sit for 10minutes. Just before serving, take off the lid, fluff up the rice with afork and gently fold in the herbs.
Cardamom and orange kulfi
Kulfi is the perfect icy treat for those who don't own an ice-cream machine – just heat, cool and freeze; no churning required. Makes six.
10 saffron threads
250ml evaporated milk
250ml condensed milk
250ml double (or whipping) cream
Finely grated zest of ½ small orange
6 green cardamom pods, bashed
2 tbsp pistachios, finely chopped (optional)
Put the saffron in a small bowl with a tablespoon of boiling water and leave for five minutes to infuse.
Meanwhile, put the milks and cream in a pan along with the orangezest and cardamom, and warm over a medium-low heat, stirring, for five minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the saffron and its water, and leave for a couple of hours to infuse.
Strain the cooled mixture into ramekins, dariole moulds or aplasticice-cream container, and freeze for six hours or overnight. Toserve, dip the ramekins or moulds in a bowl of very hot water before turning them out on to plates. Serve as they are or with afew chopped pistachios. sprinkled over the top
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