Spice benefits

[karadekoolaid]

I have to admit I don't buy ready made spice mixtures. If I'm making a chile con carne, or something taco-based, then out come the guajillo, ancho, chilpotle, de arbol chiles, a bit of annato seed, oregano, cumin - and that's what goes into the recipe.
Same goes with those bland mixtures called "Italian Seasoning"; I'll use fresh herbs from the garden.
Indian spice mixes, yes - I prepare them all. At the moment, I've got garam masala, curry powder (for my friends, not for me!), tandoori masala, sambhar powder, sandwich masala and chaat masala. And yes, they take a while to make, but taste so, so much better than commercial brands.

 

[badjak]

I just bought some sri lankan curry powder.
The composition looked fine with no weird additives.
I haven't used it yet though

 

[karadekoolaid]

I just bought some sri lankan curry powder.

Sri Lankan curry powder tends to be darker, because they toast the spices a bit longer. They also go heavy on the chiles.

 

[kaneohegirlinaz]

I'm with the rest of you folks.
I like to control the amount of Salt (and other things we really don't need too much of) I cook with.
And I too started making my own blends to aide in that goal.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Another thing you will find with industrial spice mixes is that they are ground extremely fine. This means that the essential oils in the spices will evaporate/disappear fairly quickly; say 3-4 months.

 

[badjak]

Sri Lankan curry powder tends to be darker, because they toast the spices a bit longer. They also go heavy on the chiles.

Not these

But the spice mix sounded good to me

 

[karadekoolaid]

Very aromatic - the curry and pandan leaves, the gram, lemongrass and fennel... sounds delish.

 

[blades]

I just came across this article

Are there health benefits to eating turmeric and other spices?

It's a 2020 article, recently revised

I happen to like chili's, garlic, turmeric and ginger (and even coffee, but thats another article I gotta dig up)
My gut feeling (couldn't resist) is that they may be right in saying it is not so much the spice alone, but the combination with vegetables and accompanying food

(Morning Glory , trying to get new threads up. Be careful what you wish for )

Yes interesting. I also took from it that the reason to use spices is to make our food more flavorful. Any other benefits aren't all that important. There is little doubt that vegetables and fruits are healthy.