# EveryMasala

> Every spice in the world, from every kitchen. A free guide to 306 spices and 67 blends from every country, filed by region, country and spice city, by part of the plant (seed, bark, root, flower, fruit, pod-chilli, leaf, resin, bulb, stigma, blend, paste, salt-seasoning), by flavour (hot, warm, sweet, earthy, citrus, pungent, smoky, floral, bitter, anise, sour, umami, numbing, herbal), by meal, by spiritual use and by celebration, with blends drawn as ring charts and made step by step, a live calendar, a world map and a glossary. Published by ClearTrust.

Each spice page gives: name and native name, botanical name, countries, spice cities and growing areas, heat on a 0 to 5 scale, what it is, where it comes from, flavour, how it is grown and processed, how it is used, by meal and by cuisine, spiritual and celebratory use, traditional use (as tradition, never medical advice), buying and storing, substitutes, trade history, a short FAQ, further reading and source links. Pages are derived from Wikipedia and Wikidata with AI assistance and may contain mistakes; cite the page URL.

## Browse
- [All spices](https://everymasala.com/spices)
- [Blends](https://everymasala.com/blends)
- [Regions](https://everymasala.com/regions)
- [Countries](https://everymasala.com/countries)
- [Spice cities and markets](https://everymasala.com/cities)
- [World map](https://everymasala.com/map)
- [Seeds](https://everymasala.com/forms/seed)
- [Barks](https://everymasala.com/forms/bark)
- [Roots and rhizomes](https://everymasala.com/forms/root)
- [Flowers and buds](https://everymasala.com/forms/flower)
- [Fruits and berries](https://everymasala.com/forms/fruit)
- [Chillies and pods](https://everymasala.com/forms/pod-chilli)
- [Leaves and herbs](https://everymasala.com/forms/leaf)
- [Resins and gums](https://everymasala.com/forms/resin)
- [Bulbs and alliums](https://everymasala.com/forms/bulb)
- [Stigmas and threads](https://everymasala.com/forms/stigma)
- [Blends and masalas](https://everymasala.com/forms/blend)
- [Pastes and sauces](https://everymasala.com/forms/paste)
- [Salts and seasonings](https://everymasala.com/forms/salt-seasoning)
- [Hot and fiery](https://everymasala.com/flavours/hot)
- [Warm and sweet-spiced](https://everymasala.com/flavours/warm)
- [Sweet and mellow](https://everymasala.com/flavours/sweet)
- [Earthy and deep](https://everymasala.com/flavours/earthy)
- [Citrus and bright](https://everymasala.com/flavours/citrus)
- [Sharp and pungent](https://everymasala.com/flavours/pungent)
- [Smoky](https://everymasala.com/flavours/smoky)
- [Floral and perfumed](https://everymasala.com/flavours/floral)
- [Bitter](https://everymasala.com/flavours/bitter)
- [Anise and liquorice](https://everymasala.com/flavours/anise)
- [Sour and tart](https://everymasala.com/flavours/sour)
- [Savoury and umami](https://everymasala.com/flavours/umami)
- [Numbing and tingling](https://everymasala.com/flavours/numbing)
- [Herbal and green](https://everymasala.com/flavours/herbal)
- [Breakfast](https://everymasala.com/meals/breakfast)
- [Lunch](https://everymasala.com/meals/lunch)
- [Dinner](https://everymasala.com/meals/dinner)
- [Supper](https://everymasala.com/meals/supper)
- [Snacks and tea time](https://everymasala.com/meals/snack)
- [Drinks](https://everymasala.com/meals/drink)
- [Desserts and sweets](https://everymasala.com/meals/dessert)
- [Street food](https://everymasala.com/meals/street-food)
- [Pickles and preserves](https://everymasala.com/meals/preserve)
- [Feasts and banquets](https://everymasala.com/meals/feast)
- [Hindu](https://everymasala.com/spiritual/hindu)
- [Buddhist](https://everymasala.com/spiritual/buddhist)
- [Jain](https://everymasala.com/spiritual/jain)
- [Muslim](https://everymasala.com/spiritual/muslim)
- [Jewish](https://everymasala.com/spiritual/jewish)
- [Christian](https://everymasala.com/spiritual/christian)
- [Sikh](https://everymasala.com/spiritual/sikh)
- [Zoroastrian](https://everymasala.com/spiritual/zoroastrian)
- [Shinto and Taoist](https://everymasala.com/spiritual/shinto-taoist)
- [Indigenous and folk](https://everymasala.com/spiritual/indigenous)
- [Ayurveda and traditional medicine](https://everymasala.com/spiritual/ayurveda)
- [Other traditions](https://everymasala.com/spiritual/other)
- [Weddings](https://everymasala.com/occasions/wedding)
- [Festivals](https://everymasala.com/occasions/festival)
- [Birth and childhood](https://everymasala.com/occasions/birth)
- [Funerals and remembrance](https://everymasala.com/occasions/funeral)
- [Harvest and trade](https://everymasala.com/occasions/harvest)
- [New year](https://everymasala.com/occasions/new-year)
- [Hospitality](https://everymasala.com/occasions/hospitality)
- [Everyday use](https://everymasala.com/occasions/daily)

## Live
- [Cooking today](https://everymasala.com/today): days on now and next, spices by meal, spice of the day
- [The calendar](https://everymasala.com/calendar)
- [Weekday traditions](https://everymasala.com/weekdays)
- [Spice news](https://everymasala.com/news)

## Learn
- [Concepts and words](https://everymasala.com/concepts)

## For agents
- [MCP server](https://everymasala.com/mcp): Streamable HTTP, no key needed
- [JSON API](https://everymasala.com/developers): GET https://everymasala.com/api/v1/<tool>
- [Sitemap](https://everymasala.com/sitemap.xml)
- [How complete the catalogue is](https://everymasala.com/coverage)

## Blends
- [Garam masala](https://everymasala.com/b/garam-masala): The 'warming' finishing blend of the north, built on cardamom, cinnamon, clove and cumin.
- [Chaat masala](https://everymasala.com/b/chaat-masala): A tart, salty, savoury powder built on amchur and black salt, shaken over snacks and fruit.
- [Sambar powder](https://everymasala.com/b/sambar-powder): The South Indian lentil-stew powder of coriander, dried chilli, lentils and fenugreek.
- [Panch phoron](https://everymasala.com/b/panch-phoron): Bengali five-seed whole spice mix of fenugreek, nigella, mustard, cumin and fennel.
- [Goda masala](https://everymasala.com/b/goda-masala): A dark, lightly sweet Maharashtrian blend with dried coconut and stone flower.
- [Rasam powder](https://everymasala.com/b/rasam-powder): A peppery cumin and coriander powder for the thin, sour soup called rasam.
- [Tandoori masala](https://everymasala.com/b/tandoori-masala): A red marinade blend for food cooked in a clay oven, bright with paprika or Kashmiri chilli.
- [Pav bhaji masala](https://everymasala.com/b/pav-bhaji-masala): A tangy, mild blend of dried mango, cumin and coriander for Mumbai's mashed vegetable and bread dish.
- [Biryani masala](https://everymasala.com/b/biryani-masala): A fragrant blend of whole and ground spices for layered rice and meat.
- [Chettinad masala](https://everymasala.com/b/chettinad-masala): The peppery, aromatic blend of Tamil Nadu's Chettinad region, with kalpasi and fennel.
- [Milagai podi (gunpowder)](https://everymasala.com/b/milagai-podi): A dry chutney powder of roasted lentils, sesame and chilli, eaten with oil on idli and dosa.
- [Sri Lankan roasted curry powder](https://everymasala.com/b/sri-lankan-roasted-curry-powder): A dark, deeply roasted curry powder with rice, cinnamon and fennel, used in Sri Lankan curries.
- [Nihari masala](https://everymasala.com/b/nihari-masala): A warming blend for the slow-cooked beef or lamb stew eaten at breakfast across Pakistan.
- [Dhansak masala](https://everymasala.com/b/dhansak-masala): The Parsi blend for dhansak, a lentil and meat dish, with fenugreek, cinnamon and chilli.
- [Haleem masala](https://everymasala.com/b/haleem-masala): A rich blend for haleem, the slow-cooked grain and meat porridge of Ramadan evenings.
- [Sambal](https://everymasala.com/b/sambal-oelek): A chilli paste of the Malay world, pounded fresh, from simple oelek to shrimp-paste terasi.
- [Rendang spice paste (bumbu)](https://everymasala.com/b/bumbu-rendang): The pounded paste of galangal, lemongrass, chilli and turmeric behind Minangkabau rendang.
- [Thai red curry paste](https://everymasala.com/b/thai-red-curry-paste): A pounded paste of dried red chilli, galangal, lemongrass and shrimp paste for kaeng phet.
- [Massaman curry paste](https://everymasala.com/b/massaman-curry-paste): A mild, warmly spiced Thai paste with cardamom, cinnamon and cumin, reflecting trade links.
- [Malaysian meat curry powder](https://everymasala.com/b/malaysian-meat-curry-powder): A mixed-ancestry curry powder of coriander, fennel and cumin used for Malay and Indian curries.
- [Five-spice powder](https://everymasala.com/b/five-spice-powder): Chinese blend built on star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper and fennel.
- [Shichimi togarashi](https://everymasala.com/b/shichimi-togarashi): Japan's seven-flavour chilli blend with sansho, orange peel, sesame and seaweed.
- [Kimchi seasoning paste](https://everymasala.com/b/kimchi-paste): A gochugaru, garlic and fish sauce paste rubbed between cabbage leaves for kimchi.
- [Gochujang](https://everymasala.com/b/gochujang): Korea's fermented red chilli paste of glutinous rice, soybean and gochugaru.
- [Mala seasoning](https://everymasala.com/b/mala-seasoning): The numbing-and-hot mix of Sichuan pepper and chilli behind Sichuan hot pot and skewers.
- [Thirteen-spice powder (shisanxiang)](https://everymasala.com/b/shisanxiang): A northern Chinese multi-spice powder with a long list of warm and aromatic ingredients.
- [Furikake](https://everymasala.com/b/furikake): A dry Japanese rice topping of seaweed, sesame and salt, with fish or egg in some versions.
- [Khmeli suneli](https://everymasala.com/b/khmeli-suneli): Georgia's dried herb and spice blend, led by blue fenugreek, coriander and marigold petals.
- [Adjika](https://everymasala.com/b/adjika): A hot, garlicky red paste of the Abkhaz and Georgian table, with chilli, herbs and salt.
- [Svan salt (svanuri marili)](https://everymasala.com/b/svan-salt): A dry blend of salt, garlic, blue fenugreek and chilli from the Svaneti mountains.
- [Plov spice mix](https://everymasala.com/b/plov-spice-mix): Cumin, barberry and dried coriander for the festive rice pilaf of Central Asia.
- [Achari masala (pickle spice)](https://everymasala.com/b/achari-masala): The pickle-spice blend of fennel, nigella, mustard and fenugreek used in curries and chutneys.
- [Sichuan pepper salt (jiaoyan)](https://everymasala.com/b/sichuan-pepper-salt): Toasted Sichuan pepper ground with salt, a dry dipping seasoning for fried food.
- [Kashmiri masala (verinag)](https://everymasala.com/b/kashmiri-garam-masala): A Kashmiri wazwan blend with fennel, dried ginger and black cardamom, mild in heat.
- [Bisi bele bath powder](https://everymasala.com/b/bisi-bele-bath-powder): A Karnataka blend with coconut, sesame, cinnamon and marathi mogga for the rice and lentil dish.
- [Ras el hanout](https://everymasala.com/b/ras-el-hanout): Morocco's 'top of the shop' blend, with a dozen or more spices chosen by each spice seller.
- [Baharat](https://everymasala.com/b/baharat): The Arabic word for spices, also a warm all-purpose blend of pepper, cinnamon and cumin.
- [Za'atar](https://everymasala.com/b/zaatar): A Levantine mix of dried wild thyme or hyssop, sumac, sesame and salt, eaten with oil and bread.
- [Dukkah](https://everymasala.com/b/dukkah): An Egyptian dry dip of crushed nuts, sesame, coriander and cumin, eaten with bread and oil.
- [Berbere](https://everymasala.com/b/berbere): Ethiopia and Eritrea's deep red chilli blend with fenugreek, korarima and ajwain.
- [Harissa](https://everymasala.com/b/harissa): A Tunisian red chilli paste of garlic, caraway, coriander and olive oil.
- [Advieh](https://everymasala.com/b/advieh): Persian aromatic blends with rose petals, cardamom, cinnamon and cumin, in several kinds.
- [Hawaij](https://everymasala.com/b/hawaij): Yemeni blends: one with cumin, pepper and turmeric for soups, one with cardamom and ginger for coffee.
- [Mitmita](https://everymasala.com/b/mitmita): A very hot Ethiopian chilli powder with cardamom, clove and salt, used with raw beef.
- [Suya spice (yaji)](https://everymasala.com/b/yaji): The groundnut and chilli rub of Hausa suya, the roadside grilled meat of northern Nigeria.
- [Tagine spice mix](https://everymasala.com/b/tagine-spice): A home blend of ginger, turmeric, saffron and cinnamon for slow-cooked Moroccan stews.
- [Chermoula](https://everymasala.com/b/chermoula): A North African marinade of coriander, parsley, garlic, lemon, cumin and paprika, mostly for fish.
- [Jamaican jerk seasoning](https://everymasala.com/b/jamaican-jerk): A hot Jamaican rub of scotch bonnet, allspice and thyme for slow-smoked meat.
- [Cajun seasoning](https://everymasala.com/b/cajun-seasoning): A Louisiana blend of paprika, cayenne, garlic, onion and oregano.
- [Adobo seasoning](https://everymasala.com/b/adobo-seasoning): A Caribbean and Latin American all-purpose dry rub of garlic, oregano and pepper.
- [Recado rojo](https://everymasala.com/b/recado-rojo): The Yucatan red achiote paste with sour orange, allspice, cumin and garlic.
- [Chili powder (American blend)](https://everymasala.com/b/chili-powder-blend): A US seasoning of ground chilli with cumin, garlic and oregano, built for chilli con carne.
- [Curry powder](https://everymasala.com/b/curry-powder): A British-era mixed powder of turmeric, coriander and cumin, shaped by trade with India.
- [Old Bay seasoning](https://everymasala.com/b/old-bay): A Chesapeake Bay seafood seasoning of celery salt, paprika and pepper.
- [Quatre epices](https://everymasala.com/b/quatre-epices): The French four-spice powder of ground pepper, clove, nutmeg and ginger for charcuterie.
- [Herbes de Provence](https://everymasala.com/b/herbes-de-provence): A dried herb blend, not a spice blend: thyme, savory, rosemary and oregano from southern France.
- [Mixed spice (pudding spice)](https://everymasala.com/b/mixed-spice): The British baking blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and clove for puddings and buns.
- [Pumpkin pie spice](https://everymasala.com/b/pumpkin-pie-spice): A North American blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove, sold in autumn.
- [Speculaas spice (speculoos)](https://everymasala.com/b/speculaas-spice): The Dutch and Belgian biscuit blend of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and white pepper.
- [Masala chai blend](https://everymasala.com/b/masala-chai-blend): The spiced milk tea of the subcontinent: cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, clove and black pepper.
- [Mulled wine spices (Gluhwein)](https://everymasala.com/b/mulled-spices): Cinnamon, clove, star anise, orange and sugar warmed into red wine at winter markets.
- [Lebkuchen spice (Lebkuchengewuerz)](https://everymasala.com/b/lebkuchen-spice): The German gingerbread blend of cinnamon, clove, coriander, anise and cardamom.
- [Tabil](https://everymasala.com/b/tabil): A Tunisian blend of coriander, caraway, garlic and chilli, from a word meaning seasoning.
- [Pickling spice](https://everymasala.com/b/pickling-spice): A whole-spice mix of mustard seed, dill, bay, coriander and peppercorn for brines.
- [Taco seasoning](https://everymasala.com/b/taco-seasoning): A US pantry mix of chilli, cumin, garlic, onion and oregano for seasoned mince.
- [Caribbean curry powder](https://everymasala.com/b/caribbean-curry-powder): A turmeric-yellow blend carried to the Caribbean by Indian indentured workers.
- [Niter kibbeh spice mix](https://everymasala.com/b/niter-kibbeh-spices): The aromatic mix simmered into Ethiopian clarified butter: fenugreek, korarima, cardamom and turmeric.

## Spice cities and markets
- [Kochi](https://everymasala.com/city/kochi): A Kerala port on the Malabar coast that has shipped pepper, cardamom and ginger for centuries and still runs one of India's main spice auctions.
- [Khari Baoli, Delhi](https://everymasala.com/city/khari-baoli): Said to be Asia's largest wholesale spice market, a crowded lane of sacks and godowns near the Red Fort in Old Delhi.
- [Guntur](https://everymasala.com/city/guntur): The Andhra town at the centre of India's largest chilli-growing belt, with a huge chilli market and cold stores.
- [Unjha](https://everymasala.com/city/unjha): A north Gujarat town with a major market for cumin, fennel and other seed spices.
- [Kannur](https://everymasala.com/city/kannur): A northern Malabar town and old port, linked to the pepper and cinnamon trade and to the cuisine of Malabar's Muslim community.
- [Idukki](https://everymasala.com/city/idukki): A high-range district in Kerala known for cardamom, pepper and other plantation spices.
- [Munnar](https://everymasala.com/city/munnar): A high hill station in Kerala best known for tea, with cardamom and other spices grown on the slopes nearby.
- [Mysuru](https://everymasala.com/city/mysuru): A palace city in Karnataka with a famous old market, Devaraja, where spices, flowers and sandalwood are sold.
- [Wayanad](https://everymasala.com/city/wayanad): A hill district in north Kerala where pepper, cardamom, coffee and ginger are grown on small farms and estates.
- [Kozhikode](https://everymasala.com/city/kozhikode): The old Calicut of the Malabar coast, where Vasco da Gama landed in 1498 and where pepper was the chief trade.
- [Erode](https://everymasala.com/city/erode): A Tamil Nadu town known as a main turmeric market of India, with a large regulated market for the crop.
- [Sangli](https://everymasala.com/city/sangli): A Maharashtra city with one of India's leading turmeric markets and a large trade in dried turmeric.
- [Byadgi](https://everymasala.com/city/byadgi): A small Karnataka town that gives its name to a wrinkled, deep red chilli prized for colour more than heat.
- [Lakadong, Jaintia Hills](https://everymasala.com/city/lakadong): A hill area of Meghalaya known for Lakadong turmeric, a variety noted for its high curcumin content.
- [Kolkata](https://everymasala.com/city/kolkata): A river port and former capital with old wholesale lanes in Burrabazar and a cuisine built on mustard, panch phoron and poppy seed.
- [Galle](https://everymasala.com/city/galle): A fortified port on Sri Lanka's southern coast with a long history of spice shipping to Arab, Portuguese, Dutch and British traders.
- [Matale](https://everymasala.com/city/matale): A hill district in Sri Lanka's centre known for spice gardens growing cardamom, pepper, clove, nutmeg and cinnamon.
- [Kandy](https://everymasala.com/city/kandy): The hill capital of Sri Lanka's last kings and a base for the central highland spice country.
- [Kathmandu](https://everymasala.com/city/kathmandu): Nepal's capital, where the old Asan market sells spices, and a home of timur, the Nepali Sichuan-type pepper.
- [Penang](https://everymasala.com/city/penang): An island port in the Strait of Malacca, once a nutmeg and clove planting centre, with a strong Malay, Chinese and Indian food culture.
- [Malacca](https://everymasala.com/city/malacca): A historic port on the Strait of Malacca where Malay, Portuguese, Dutch and British traders met over spices.
- [Banda Islands](https://everymasala.com/city/banda-islands): A small island group in eastern Indonesia that was, for centuries, the only source of nutmeg and mace in the world.
- [Ternate and Tidore](https://everymasala.com/city/ternate): Twin volcanic islands in the Moluccas, once the world's chief source of cloves and ruled by rival sultanates.
- [Jakarta](https://everymasala.com/city/jakarta): Indonesia's capital, the old Dutch Batavia, a hub for spices and for the Indonesian bumbu and rempah pastes.
- [Kampot](https://everymasala.com/city/kampot): A Cambodian river town whose pepper, with a protected geographical indication, was prized by French chefs.
- [Hanoi](https://everymasala.com/city/hanoi): Vietnam's capital, whose Old Quarter markets sell herbs and spices for pho, bun cha and northern Vietnamese food.
- [Bangkok](https://everymasala.com/city/bangkok): Thailand's capital, where wet markets sell fresh curry pastes made from lemongrass, galangal and chilli.
- [Kuching](https://everymasala.com/city/kuching): The capital of Sarawak on Borneo, the centre of Malaysia's Sarawak pepper and its Chinese and Dayak food.
- [Chengdu](https://everymasala.com/city/chengdu): The capital of Sichuan, home of the numbing and hot flavour called mala, and of doubanjiang chilli bean paste.
- [Hanyuan](https://everymasala.com/city/hanyuan): A county in the mountains of western Sichuan known for hongpao huajiao, the red Sichuan pepper with a strong aroma.
- [Seoul](https://everymasala.com/city/seoul): Korea's capital, where gochugaru chilli flakes and gochujang paste season the national dishes.
- [Tokyo](https://everymasala.com/city/tokyo): Japan's capital, where shichimi togarashi, a seven-flavour chilli blend, has been sold since the Edo period.
- [Hong Kong](https://everymasala.com/city/hong-kong): A free port long used for trading dried goods, with shops on Des Voeux Road West selling dried seafood, herbs and spices.
- [Samarkand](https://everymasala.com/city/samarkand): A great Silk Road city whose Siab Bazaar sells cumin, barberry, dried herbs and spices for plov.
- [Tashkent](https://everymasala.com/city/tashkent): Uzbekistan's capital, where the domed Chorsu Bazaar sells spices, dried fruit and the mixes for the city's plov.
- [Tbilisi](https://everymasala.com/city/tbilisi): The capital of Georgia, with markets selling khmeli suneli, adjika, blue fenugreek and walnuts.
- [Baku](https://everymasala.com/city/baku): Azerbaijan's Caspian port, with a tradition of saffron-scented pilaf, sumac and dried herbs.
- [Yerevan](https://everymasala.com/city/yerevan): Armenia's capital, with the GUM Market and Vernissage selling dried herbs, spices and spice-rubbed basturma.
- [Istanbul Spice Bazaar](https://everymasala.com/city/istanbul): The Mısır Çarşısı, or Egyptian Bazaar, a covered market beside the Golden Horn, long the main spice market of the Ottoman capital.
- [Gaziantep](https://everymasala.com/city/gaziantep): A south-east Turkish city and UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, known for pistachio baklava, kebabs and red pepper pastes.
- [Tehran](https://everymasala.com/city/tehran): Iran's capital, where the Grand Bazaar sells saffron, dried limes, barberries, turmeric and advieh blends.
- [Mashhad](https://everymasala.com/city/mashhad): The great pilgrimage city of eastern Iran and the commercial centre of the Khorasan saffron region.
- [Isfahan](https://everymasala.com/city/isfahan): A Safavid capital with the Qeysarieh Bazaar and a cuisine of rice, saffron and rich stews.
- [Amman](https://everymasala.com/city/amman): Jordan's capital, whose downtown souks sell za'atar, sumac, cardamom coffee spice and baharat.
- [Aleppo](https://everymasala.com/city/aleppo): An ancient Syrian trading city whose name is on Aleppo pepper and whose old covered souks were once among the longest in the world.
- [Damascus](https://everymasala.com/city/damascus): One of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, with a spice souk, Souq al-Bzouriyeh, inside its old walls.
- [Jerusalem](https://everymasala.com/city/jerusalem): A holy city whose Old City souks and Mahane Yehuda market sell za'atar, sumac, besamim and Levantine spices.
- [Dubai Spice Souk](https://everymasala.com/city/dubai): The Deira Spice Souk beside Dubai Creek, where dhows have long brought spices, frankincense and dried limes.
- [Muscat](https://everymasala.com/city/muscat): Oman's capital and port, where the Muttrah Souq sells frankincense, spice mixes and dried limes.
- [Salalah and Dhofar](https://everymasala.com/city/salalah): The Dhofar region of southern Oman, home of the frankincense trees that supplied the ancient incense routes.
- [Sanaa](https://everymasala.com/city/sanaa): The old capital of Yemen, whose Old City souq sells hawaij, cardamom and other spices.
- [Marrakech](https://everymasala.com/city/marrakech): A red city of southern Morocco whose medina souks sell ras el hanout, cumin, saffron and preserved lemons in pyramids and sacks.
- [Fes](https://everymasala.com/city/fes): A medieval city of Morocco, with the largest car-free medina in the world and a refined cuisine built on spice and preserved lemon.
- [Khan el-Khalili, Cairo](https://everymasala.com/city/khan-el-khalili): Cairo's great bazaar, dating from the fourteenth century, with spice and herb shops along its lanes and nearby Al-Muizz Street.
- [Tunis](https://everymasala.com/city/tunis): Tunisia's capital, whose medina souks sell harissa, caraway, tabil and dried rose buds.
- [Essaouira](https://everymasala.com/city/essaouira): A walled Atlantic port in Morocco, near the argan groves, with a spice and herb trade in its small medina.
- [Zanzibar and Pemba](https://everymasala.com/city/zanzibar): The Spice Islands of East Africa, long the world's leading source of cloves, with farms also growing nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper and vanilla.
- [Stone Town](https://everymasala.com/city/stone-town): The old harbour quarter of Zanzibar City, a UNESCO site of coral-stone houses, carved doors and spice shops.
- [Mombasa](https://everymasala.com/city/mombasa): Kenya's main port, an Indian Ocean trading city with Swahili, Arab and Indian food rich in coconut, cardamom and chilli.
- [Addis Ababa](https://everymasala.com/city/addis-ababa): Ethiopia's capital, where Merkato, one of Africa's largest open markets, sells berbere, mitmita, korarima and many other spices.
- [Antananarivo](https://everymasala.com/city/antananarivo): Madagascar's highland capital and the commercial hub of the world's leading vanilla producer.
- [Sambava and the SAVA region](https://everymasala.com/city/sambava): The north-east of Madagascar, where the SAVA region grows most of the island's vanilla.
- [Durban](https://everymasala.com/city/durban): South Africa's Indian Ocean port, with the Victoria Street Market and the largest Indian-descended community outside India.
- [Cape Town and the Bo-Kaap](https://everymasala.com/city/cape-town): A port on the Cape of Good Hope, where Cape Malay cooking, with its sweet and fragrant curries, grew from the Dutch spice trade.
- [Kano](https://everymasala.com/city/kano): A northern Nigerian trading city on the old Saharan routes, linked with yaji, the peppery spice blend for suya.
- [Seville](https://everymasala.com/city/seville): The Andalusian city with the Archive of the Indies, where records of Spain's trade with the Americas, and its pimenton and saffron cooking, tell the story.
- [Lisbon](https://everymasala.com/city/lisbon): The Portuguese capital, from where ships left to find the sea route to the spices of India, and which still cooks with piri piri, cinnamon and coriander.
- [Hamburg Speicherstadt](https://everymasala.com/city/hamburg): A port city with the Speicherstadt, a vast warehouse district where spices, coffee and carpets were stored, and a spice museum.
- [Amsterdam](https://everymasala.com/city/amsterdam): The home of the Dutch East India Company, which dominated the nutmeg, mace and clove trade in the seventeenth century.
- [London](https://everymasala.com/city/london): The home of the East India Company, whose docks and warehouses received pepper and spices, and where curry houses made Britain's national dish.
- [Marseille](https://everymasala.com/city/marseille): France's oldest port, with a Mediterranean food culture and the Noailles market, where North African and Armenian spice sellers work.
- [Venice](https://everymasala.com/city/venice): A lagoon republic that grew wealthy bringing spices from the Levant to Europe, and which still has a spice trade around the Rialto.
- [Kalocsa](https://everymasala.com/city/kalocsa): A Hungarian town on the Danube, one of the two main paprika regions of the country, with a paprika museum.
- [La Vera](https://everymasala.com/city/la-vera): A valley in Extremadura where peppers are smoke-dried over oak fires to make Pimenton de la Vera, the smoked paprika of Spain.
- [Nuremberg](https://everymasala.com/city/nuremberg): A Bavarian trading city famous for Lebkuchen, a spiced Christmas gingerbread, and its medieval link to the spice routes.
- [New Orleans](https://everymasala.com/city/new-orleans): A Mississippi port whose Creole and Cajun cooking uses cayenne, paprika, thyme and file powder.
- [Hatch](https://everymasala.com/city/hatch): A small New Mexico village in the Rio Grande valley that is known for its green and red chile peppers.
- [Baltimore](https://everymasala.com/city/baltimore): A Chesapeake port and the home of Old Bay seasoning, the celery salt and paprika mix for steamed crab.
- [Montreal](https://everymasala.com/city/montreal): A Canadian city with Jean-Talon market, a Jewish deli tradition and the Montreal steak spice blend.
- [Oaxaca](https://everymasala.com/city/oaxaca): The southern Mexican city of seven moles, with markets of dried chiles, chocolate and herbs.
- [Merida](https://everymasala.com/city/merida): The capital of Yucatan, whose Maya-descended cuisine uses annatto, sour orange and the habanero in recados.
- [Puebla](https://everymasala.com/city/puebla): A colonial city and the home of mole poblano, a sauce of chiles, chocolate and spices.
- [Papantla](https://everymasala.com/city/papantla): A Totonac town in Veracruz, the region where vanilla was first cultivated, and the home of the Voladores.
- [Lima](https://everymasala.com/city/lima): The Peruvian capital, whose cuisine is built on aji amarillo, aji panca, huacatay and cumin.
- [Arequipa](https://everymasala.com/city/arequipa): A white-stone city in southern Peru, known for rocoto relleno, a stuffed hot pepper, and for picanterias.
- [Salvador da Bahia](https://everymasala.com/city/salvador): Brazil's first capital and the heart of Afro-Brazilian cooking, with dende oil, malagueta pepper and ginger in its markets.
- [Belem](https://everymasala.com/city/belem): A port at the mouth of the Amazon, with the Ver-o-Peso market selling jambu, tucupi and spices of the forest.
- [Cartagena](https://everymasala.com/city/cartagena): A walled Caribbean port in Colombia, once a hub of the Spanish treasure fleets and of a coastal cuisine of coconut, cumin and chile.
- [Grenada, Isle of Spice](https://everymasala.com/city/grenada): The Caribbean island known as the Isle of Spice, a leading producer of nutmeg and mace, with a nutmeg on its flag.
- [St George's](https://everymasala.com/city/st-georges): The harbour capital of Grenada, with a Saturday market selling nutmeg, cinnamon, turmeric and spice baskets.
- [Kingston and Jamaica](https://everymasala.com/city/kingston): The Jamaican capital and the island of pimento, or allspice, and jerk seasoning with Scotch bonnet.
- [Port of Spain](https://everymasala.com/city/port-of-spain): The capital of Trinidad, where Indo-Trinidadian curry, roti and doubles have made spice a national taste.
- [Coban](https://everymasala.com/city/coban): The highland city of Guatemala's Alta Verapaz, the heart of the world's largest cardamom crop.
- [Hobart](https://everymasala.com/city/hobart): The capital of Tasmania, home of the native pepperberry, Tasmannia lanceolata, a hot, fruity wild spice.
- [Cairns](https://everymasala.com/city/cairns): A tropical Queensland city on the edge of the Daintree rainforest, with native bush foods and tropical spice plants.
- [Alice Springs and the Central Desert](https://everymasala.com/city/alice-springs): A town in the heart of Australia, near where desert foods such as wattleseed and bush tomato are traditionally harvested.
- [Taveuni](https://everymasala.com/city/taveuni): A green island in Fiji where vanilla, turmeric and ginger are grown, and the 180th meridian crosses.

## Days
- [Diwali, the festival of sweets](https://everymasala.com/days/diwali-sweets): Five days of lamps and sweets, when cardamom, saffron and nutmeg are the scents of every kitchen in India.
- [Dhanteras](https://everymasala.com/days/dhanteras): The day for buying new vessels, when coriander seed and jaggery are offered to Lakshmi in many homes.
- [Holi and thandai](https://everymasala.com/days/holi-thandai): The spring colour festival, with cooling thandai made from fennel, black pepper, cardamom and rose.
- [Navratri fasting food](https://everymasala.com/days/navratri-vrat-food): Nine nights of fasting, when rock salt, cumin, green chilli and black pepper replace the usual spice box.
- [Dussehra feast](https://everymasala.com/days/dussehra-jalebi): The victory day that ends Navratri, marked with saffron jalebi, fafda and a ritual of the new rice.
- [Ganesh Chaturthi and modak](https://everymasala.com/days/ganesh-chaturthi-modak): Ten days honouring Ganesha, with steamed modak filled with coconut, jaggery and cardamom.
- [Janmashtami and panjiri](https://everymasala.com/days/janmashtami-panjiri): Krishna's birthday, with panjiri and sweets of cardamom and nutmeg offered at midnight.
- [Raksha Bandhan sweets](https://everymasala.com/days/raksha-bandhan-sweets): Sisters tie a thread on brothers' wrists and sweets perfumed with cardamom and saffron change hands.
- [Akshaya Tritiya](https://everymasala.com/days/akshaya-tritiya): An auspicious day for new beginnings, when kitchens prepare sweets and raw mango dishes with fresh spices.
- [Vasant Panchami and yellow rice](https://everymasala.com/days/vasant-panchami-kesari): The first day of spring, when saffron or turmeric turns rice and sweets yellow for Saraswati.
- [Onam sadya](https://everymasala.com/days/onam-sadya): Kerala's harvest feast of a dozen or more dishes on a banana leaf, built on black pepper, coconut oil and ginger.
- [Vishu](https://everymasala.com/days/vishu-kani): The Malayalam New Year, begun by viewing the kani and eaten with a bitter, sweet and sour dish of neem flower, jaggery and raw mango.
- [Puthandu and mango pachadi](https://everymasala.com/days/puthandu-mango-pachadi): The Tamil New Year, when six tastes are blended in a pachadi of neem flower, jaggery, tamarind, chilli and salt.
- [Ugadi pachadi](https://everymasala.com/days/ugadi-pachadi): Telugu and Kannada new year, begun with a relish of neem flower, jaggery, raw mango, tamarind and green chilli.
- [Gudi Padwa](https://everymasala.com/days/gudi-padwa): The Marathi New Year, with shrikhand scented with saffron and cardamom and a neem and jaggery mouthful.
- [Pongal](https://everymasala.com/days/pongal-harvest): The Tamil harvest festival, with rice boiled over in a new pot and flavoured with cardamom, pepper and cashews.
- [Makar Sankranti and sesame sweets](https://everymasala.com/days/makar-sankranti-til): The winter-sun festival, shared with til ladoo, with the saying to speak sweetly as sesame and jaggery are sweet.
- [Lohri](https://everymasala.com/days/lohri): The Punjabi winter bonfire night, with sesame, peanuts and gajak, and sarson da saag seasoned with ginger and garlic.
- [Baisakhi and Vaisakhi](https://everymasala.com/days/baisakhi-vaisakhi): The wheat harvest and the founding of the Khalsa, with langar of dal and kadah prashad scented with cardamom.
- [Bohag Bihu](https://everymasala.com/days/bohag-bihu): Assam's new year, with pitha, laru and a dish of herbs and greens, including bhut jolokia cooks use sparingly.
- [Bhogali Bihu](https://everymasala.com/days/bhogali-bihu): The Assamese feast of the winter harvest, held in field huts around fires with sesame sweets and spiced meat.
- [Poila Boishakh](https://everymasala.com/days/poila-boishakh-bengal): The Bengali New Year, when shops open new account books and homes cook with panch phoron and mustard.
- [Chhath Puja](https://everymasala.com/days/chhath-puja): The four-day sun worship of Bihar, with thekua, fried in ghee and perfumed with fennel and cardamom, as the key offering.
- [Karthigai Deepam](https://everymasala.com/days/karthigai-deepam): The festival of lamps in Tamil Nadu, with sweet appam, pori and adai flavoured with cardamom and dried ginger.
- [Durga Puja bhog](https://everymasala.com/days/durga-puja-bhog): Bengal's great autumn festival, with khichuri bhog, labra and chutney cooked for the goddess and shared by all.
- [Aadi Perukku](https://everymasala.com/days/aadi-perukku): A river-side picnic in Tamil Nadu with seasoned rice varieties: tamarind, lemon, coconut, curd and sesame rice.
- [Guru Nanak Gurpurab](https://everymasala.com/days/guru-nanak-gurpurab): The birthday of the first Sikh Guru, with langar for thousands: dal, rice, kheer and sweet halwa.
- [Parsi New Year (Navroze)](https://everymasala.com/days/parsi-navroze): The Parsi new year, with sev, ravo, patra ni machhi and dhansak, in a cuisine that blends Persian and Gujarati spice.
- [Christmas in Kerala and Goa](https://everymasala.com/days/christmas-kerala-goa): Plum cake soaked in rum with cloves and cinnamon, and a Goan bebinca layered with nutmeg and cardamom.
- [Eid in Hyderabad](https://everymasala.com/days/eid-hyderabad): Sheer khurma, haleem and biryani: Eid in the Deccan is a feast of saffron, mace and slow-cooked meat.
- [Thaipusam](https://everymasala.com/days/thaipusam): The Tamil festival of Murugan, with milk pots, vegetarian fasting and sweets scented with cardamom and rosewater.
- [Hari Raya Aidilfitri](https://everymasala.com/days/hari-raya-aidilfitri): The end of Ramadan in the Malay world, with rendang, lemang and ketupat made from lemongrass, galangal and turmeric leaf.
- [Tihar in Nepal](https://everymasala.com/days/tihar-nepal): Nepal's five days of lights, with sel roti and a meal of lentils flavoured with jimbu and timur.
- [Dashain](https://everymasala.com/days/dashain-nepal): Nepal's biggest festival: tika, family reunions and goat curry thick with ginger, garlic and timur.
- [Sinhala and Tamil New Year (Avurudu)](https://everymasala.com/days/avurudu-sri-lanka): Kiribath, kavum and kokis, with the first meal cooked at an auspicious hour and the sweetness of cinnamon and cardamom.
- [Vesak](https://everymasala.com/days/vesak-sri-lanka): The Buddhist full moon of birth, enlightenment and death, with free refreshment stalls (dansal) serving spiced drinks and rice.
- [Thingyan](https://everymasala.com/days/thingyan-myanmar): The Burmese water festival, with thingyan rice served in cold, scented water and eaten with fried fish and salads.
- [Khmer New Year](https://everymasala.com/days/khmer-new-year): Cambodia's new year, with amok in banana leaf and kroeung, the fresh spice paste of lemongrass, galangal and turmeric.
- [Songkran](https://everymasala.com/days/songkran): Thailand's water festival, with khao chae, rice in jasmine-scented iced water, served with sweet fried sides.
- [Loy Krathong](https://everymasala.com/days/loy-krathong): The November full moon, when floating baskets are set on the water and street stalls sell hot, sweet and sour snacks.
- [Tet Nguyen Dan](https://everymasala.com/days/tet-nguyen-dan): Vietnam's lunar new year, with banh chung, braised pork with eggs and a sweet pickled shallot, spiced with star anise and cinnamon.
- [Lunar New Year](https://everymasala.com/days/lunar-new-year): The great spring festival, with five-spice braised dishes, ginger and scallion fish and tangerine peel soups.
- [Lantern Festival and tangyuan](https://everymasala.com/days/lantern-festival): The end of the new year season, with glutinous rice balls in sweet ginger syrup or osmanthus broth.
- [Qingming](https://everymasala.com/days/qingming-festival): The tomb-sweeping day, with green rice dumplings and cold dishes kept plain and lightly seasoned.
- [Dragon Boat Festival and zongzi](https://everymasala.com/days/dragon-boat-zongzi): Zongzi wrapped in bamboo leaf, with fillings seasoned with soy, five-spice and white pepper, and realgar wine for health.
- [Mid-Autumn Festival and chuseok](https://everymasala.com/days/mid-autumn-festival): The harvest moon, with mooncakes of lotus paste, osmanthus tea and in Korea songpyeon scented with pine and sesame.
- [Laba and laba congee](https://everymasala.com/days/laba-festival): The eighth day of the twelfth month, with a congee of grains, beans and dates and Laba garlic pickled green in vinegar.
- [Dongzhi, the winter solstice](https://everymasala.com/days/dongzhi-winter-solstice): The solstice, with dumplings, tangyuan and warming ginger soups, and in Korea red bean porridge.
- [Seollal](https://everymasala.com/days/seollal): Korean New Year, with tteokguk, rice cake soup, and japchae with sesame oil, black pepper and soy.
- [Kimjang](https://everymasala.com/days/kimjang): The communal making of winter kimchi, with mountains of cabbage packed with gochugaru, garlic, ginger and fish sauce.
- [Setsubun](https://everymasala.com/days/setsubun): The bean-throwing day marking the start of spring, with sardine and holly sprigs and a lucky sushi roll.
- [Oshogatsu and osechi](https://everymasala.com/days/oshogatsu-osechi): Japanese New Year, with osechi boxes and toso, a spiced sake of sansho, cinnamon and other herbs drunk to start the year.
- [Nanakusa no sekku](https://everymasala.com/days/nanakusa-no-sekku): The seventh of January, when a porridge of seven spring herbs is eaten to rest the stomach after the New Year feasting.
- [Nauryz](https://everymasala.com/days/nauryz-kazakhstan): The Central Asian spring new year, with nauryz kozhe of seven ingredients and plov seasoned with cumin and barberry.
- [Kerala pepper harvest](https://everymasala.com/days/kerala-pepper-harvest): From December to February, the Malabar coast picks green pepper berries and dries them in the sun to black.
- [Sri Lanka cinnamon harvest](https://everymasala.com/days/sri-lanka-cinnamon-harvest): In the rains, cinnamon peelers scrape and roll the inner bark of cut stems into the quills of Ceylon cinnamon.
- [Saffron harvest in Kashmir](https://everymasala.com/days/kashmir-saffron-harvest): In late October, the purple crocus fields of Pampore are picked at dawn and the red stigmas are plucked by hand.
- [Nowruz](https://everymasala.com/days/nowruz): The Persian new year at the spring equinox, with sabzi polo mahi, herbed rice and fish, and saffron in every sweet.
- [Sizdah Bedar](https://everymasala.com/days/sizdah-bedar): The thirteenth day of Nowruz, spent outdoors with picnic dishes: ash reshteh, kebabs and sour tamarind-flavoured treats.
- [Yalda Night](https://everymasala.com/days/yalda-night): The longest night, kept with pomegranate, watermelon, nuts and Hafez, with spiced fruit and saffron sweets on the table.
- [Mehregan](https://everymasala.com/days/mehregan): The autumn festival of friendship and harvest, with saffron rice, barberry and pomegranate.
- [Ramadan and iftar](https://everymasala.com/days/ramadan-iftar): A month of fasting from dawn to sunset, broken each evening with dates, spiced soups, samosas and sweet drinks.
- [Laylat al-Qadr](https://everymasala.com/days/laylat-al-qadr): The Night of Power, spent in prayer, with a light meal of dates, sweet milk and rose or cardamom tea before dawn.
- [Eid al-Fitr](https://everymasala.com/days/eid-al-fitr): The feast that ends Ramadan, with sweet dishes in every country: ma'amoul, sheer khurma, baklava and kolak.
- [Eid al-Adha](https://everymasala.com/days/eid-al-adha): The festival of sacrifice, with lamb and goat dishes: biryani, korma, mandi and tagine, rich in whole spices.
- [Mawlid an-Nabi](https://everymasala.com/days/mawlid-an-nabi): The Prophet's birthday, marked with sweets and processions, including Egypt's sesame and nut halawet el-mouled.
- [Ashura and noah's pudding](https://everymasala.com/days/ashura-pudding): The tenth of Muharram: in Turkey, aşure, a pudding of grains, beans and dried fruit scented with cinnamon and clove.
- [Rosh Hashanah](https://everymasala.com/days/rosh-hashanah): The Jewish new year, with apples and honey, honey cake spiced with cinnamon and clove, and Sephardic seven-symbol seder.
- [Yom Kippur break-fast](https://everymasala.com/days/yom-kippur-break-fast): After a day-long fast, a gentle meal of bagels, kugel, cake and coffee with cardamom in Israeli homes.
- [Sukkot](https://everymasala.com/days/sukkot): The harvest festival of booths, with the four species including the fragrant myrtle and etrog, and stuffed vegetables.
- [Hanukkah](https://everymasala.com/days/hanukkah): Eight nights of lights and oil, with latkes, sufganiyot and spiced treats such as cinnamon doughnuts.
- [Tu BiShvat](https://everymasala.com/days/tu-bishvat): The new year of the trees, with a seder of fruit and nuts and carob, almonds, dates and figs.
- [Purim](https://everymasala.com/days/purim): The carnival of Esther, with filled three-cornered hamantaschen and, in Yemenite homes, a spiced meat soup.
- [Passover seder](https://everymasala.com/days/passover-seder): The festival of freedom, with a seder plate of bitter herbs and charoset, a paste of fruit, nuts, cinnamon and wine.
- [Shavuot](https://everymasala.com/days/shavuot): The harvest and Torah festival, with dairy foods: cheesecake, blintzes and Yemenite jachnun, served with grated tomato and zhug.
- [Meskel](https://everymasala.com/days/meskel): Ethiopia's festival of the finding of the True Cross, with a bonfire (demera) and feasts of doro wat and tej, flavoured with berbere.
- [Enkutatash](https://everymasala.com/days/enkutatash): The Ethiopian New Year, the day of the "gift of jewels", with doro wat, injera and coffee roasted and served in the ceremony.
- [Genna](https://everymasala.com/days/genna-ethiopian-christmas): Ethiopian Christmas, after a 43-day fast, with a feast of doro wat, injera and tej.
- [Timkat](https://everymasala.com/days/timkat): The Ethiopian Epiphany, with processions of the tabot and a festive meal of wat and bread.
- [Orthodox Easter and Fasika](https://everymasala.com/days/fasika-orthodox-easter): After Lent, tsiga, magiritsa, kulich and paska, with mahleb and mastic in Greek tsoureki and Ethiopian doro wat.
- [Taliouine saffron festival](https://everymasala.com/days/taliouine-saffron-festival): In the Anti-Atlas, the crocus harvest and its three-day festival, with crocus picked at dawn and saffron tea.
- [Fiesta de la Rosa del Azafran](https://everymasala.com/days/consuegra-saffron-rose): In La Mancha, the saffron rose festival of Consuegra, with contests of peeling the flower and windmills as the backdrop.
- [Heritage Day and braai](https://everymasala.com/days/heritage-day-south-africa): South Africa's heritage day, known as National Braai Day, with Cape Malay curries, boerewors with coriander and bobotie.
- [Zanzibar clove harvest](https://everymasala.com/days/zanzibar-clove-harvest): From July to December, Pemba and Unguja pick the flower buds of the clove tree, climbing tall trees by hand.
- [Zanzibar Revolution Day](https://everymasala.com/days/zanzibar-revolution-day): The anniversary of the 1964 revolution, a public holiday in the archipelago whose economy depended on cloves.
- [Mwaka Kogwa](https://everymasala.com/days/mwaka-kogwa): The Shirazi new year in Makunduchi, Zanzibar, with a mock fight and a feast of rice, coconut and spiced dishes.
- [Madagascar vanilla harvest](https://everymasala.com/days/madagascar-vanilla-harvest): In the SAVA region, orchids are pollinated by hand and the pods picked after nine months, then cured for weeks.
- [Madagascar Independence Day](https://everymasala.com/days/madagascar-independence-day): The national day, kept with parades and family meals of romazava, zebu and rice, with ginger, vanilla and clove.
- [Grenada Independence Day](https://everymasala.com/days/grenada-independence-day): The Spice Isle's national day, with the nutmeg on the flag and oil down, a one-pot dish of breadfruit, coconut milk and turmeric.
- [Spicemas](https://everymasala.com/days/grenada-spicemas): Grenada's carnival in August, with a J'Ouvert dawn of paint and oil, and festive foods rich in nutmeg and cinnamon.
- [Christmas in the Caribbean](https://everymasala.com/days/caribbean-christmas): Black cake soaked in rum, sorrel drink with ginger and clove, pastelles, ham glazed with allspice and a pot of pepperpot.
- [Day of the Dead](https://everymasala.com/days/day-of-the-dead): Mexico's days of remembrance, with ofrendas of pan de muerto, mole and hot chocolate scented with cinnamon.
- [Las Posadas](https://everymasala.com/days/las-posadas): Nine nights of processions before Christmas, ending in warm ponche de frutas with cinnamon, tamarind and cane.
- [Cinco de Mayo and mole poblano](https://everymasala.com/days/cinco-de-mayo-mole): Puebla's victory day, remembered with mole poblano, a sauce of more than twenty ingredients.
- [Independence Day and chiles en nogada](https://everymasala.com/days/mexican-independence-chiles-en-nogada): The national day, with chiles en nogada in the colours of the flag: green poblano, white sauce and red pomegranate.
- [Senor de los Milagros](https://everymasala.com/days/senor-de-los-milagros): Lima's purple month, when turron de Dona Pepa, with anise and clove syrup, and anticuchos with aji panca are sold in the streets.
- [Festa Junina](https://everymasala.com/days/festa-junina): Brazil's midwinter harvest party, with quentao of cachaca, ginger and cloves, canjica and pe-de-moleque with cinnamon.
- [Carnival in Rio and Bahia](https://everymasala.com/days/carnival-rio): The four days before Ash Wednesday, with street food in Bahia: acaraje fried in dende oil and served with malagueta pepper.
- [Mardi Gras](https://everymasala.com/days/mardi-gras): Fat Tuesday in New Orleans, with gumbo, red beans and rice, king cake with cinnamon sugar and Creole seasoning.
- [Shrove Tuesday](https://everymasala.com/days/shrove-tuesday): Pancake day in Britain and Fat Tuesday in Sweden, with lemon and sugar and cardamom-scented semlor in whipped cream.
- [Good Friday hot cross buns](https://everymasala.com/days/good-friday-hot-cross-buns): The spiced buns marked with a cross, with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and currants, baked on Good Friday.
- [Mothering Sunday and simnel cake](https://everymasala.com/days/mothering-sunday-simnel): The fourth Sunday of Lent, once a break in the fast, with a spiced simnel cake topped with eleven marzipan balls.
- [Easter](https://everymasala.com/days/easter-sunday): The Western Easter, with lamb studded with garlic and rosemary, spiced breads and cakes in every country.
- [Epiphany and Three Kings](https://everymasala.com/days/epiphany-three-kings): The twelfth day of Christmas, with roscon de reyes, galette des rois and the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
- [Vasilopita and St Basil's Day](https://everymasala.com/days/vasilopita-new-year): The Greek New Year's cake with a coin baked inside, scented with mastic and mahleb.
- [St Nicholas Day and speculaas](https://everymasala.com/days/st-nicholas-speculaas): The Dutch and Belgian gift day, with speculaas biscuits spiced with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, white pepper and cardamom.
- [St Lucia Day](https://everymasala.com/days/st-lucia-saffron-buns): The Swedish festival of light, with lussekatter, golden saffron buns, and gingerbread and mulled wine.
- [Christmas Eve feasts](https://everymasala.com/days/christmas-eve-wigilia): Wigilia in Poland, Weihnachtsplatzchen in Germany and the Feast of the Seven Fishes in Italian-American homes.
- [Christmas Day baking](https://everymasala.com/days/christmas-day): Plum pudding, mince pies, gingerbread, eggnog and pumpkin pie: the Christmas table is built on the warm spices.
- [Stir-up Sunday](https://everymasala.com/days/stir-up-sunday): The Sunday before Advent, when families stir the Christmas pudding mix and make a wish.
- [Advent and Christmas markets](https://everymasala.com/days/advent-christmas-markets): Weeks of markets in German-speaking cities, where gluhwein, spiced almonds and lebkuchen perfume the cold air.
- [Hogmanay](https://everymasala.com/days/hogmanay): The Scottish new year, with black bun, a spiced fruit pie, shortbread and a first foot who brings whisky and coal.
- [Burns Night](https://everymasala.com/days/burns-night): The supper for the poet Robert Burns, with haggis, neeps and tatties and a haggis spiced with black pepper, coriander and nutmeg.
- [Bonfire Night and parkin](https://everymasala.com/days/bonfire-night-parkin): Britain's fireworks night, with treacle toffee and parkin, a sticky ginger cake of Yorkshire.
- [Thanksgiving](https://everymasala.com/days/thanksgiving): The American harvest feast, with turkey stuffing seasoned with sage and thyme, pumpkin pie and cranberries.
- [Oktoberfest](https://everymasala.com/days/oktoberfest): Munich's beer festival, with roast chicken, pretzels and spiced pork, and caraway, juniper and mustard on the tables.
- [Cinnamon Bun Day](https://everymasala.com/days/kanelbullens-dag): Sweden's Kanelbullens dag on 4 October, when bakeries sell kanelbullar scented with cinnamon and cardamom.
- [Hatch Chile Festival](https://everymasala.com/days/hatch-chile-festival): The Labor Day weekend harvest festival of New Mexico, with chilli roasting in drums and green chile on everything.
- [Terlingua chili cookoff](https://everymasala.com/days/terlingua-chili-cookoff): The first Saturday of November, when cooks in a Texas ghost town compete with chilli seasoned with cumin, ancho and cayenne.
- [Espelette pepper festival](https://everymasala.com/days/espelette-pepper-festival): The Basque village's late October fete, with strings of red peppers on house walls and the AOP chilli on every plate.
- [Hungarian paprika harvest days](https://everymasala.com/days/kalocsa-paprika-days): In Kalocsa and Szeged, September brings the paprika harvest, with strings of red pods and goulash cooked in kettles.
- [National Mustard Day](https://everymasala.com/days/national-mustard-day): The first Saturday of August, an American day for the seed, with a museum in Wisconsin devoted to mustard.
- [Vasco da Gama reaches Calicut](https://everymasala.com/days/vasco-da-gama-calicut): On 20 May 1498, the Portuguese fleet anchored off Calicut, opening a direct sea route to the pepper coast of India.
- [Founding of the Dutch East India Company](https://everymasala.com/days/voc-founded): On 20 March 1602, the VOC was chartered, becoming the world's first major joint-stock company and a master of the clove and nutmeg trade.
- [Treaty of Breda and the island of Run](https://everymasala.com/days/treaty-of-breda): On 31 July 1667, England and the Dutch settled their war, leaving the nutmeg island of Run to the Dutch and New Amsterdam to England.
- [Indonesian Independence Day](https://everymasala.com/days/independence-day-indonesia): The national day of the former Spice Islands, with tumpeng, a rice cone coloured with turmeric, and kerupuk-eating contests.
- [Sarawak pepper harvest](https://everymasala.com/days/sarawak-pepper-harvest): In Sarawak, pepper is picked in the dry months and dried or soaked to white pepper for the world's kitchens.
- [Christmas in Australia and New Zealand](https://everymasala.com/days/australian-christmas-spice): A summer Christmas, with spiced fruit mince, ham glazed with clove and a pavlova perfumed with vanilla.

## Concepts
- **Elaichi**: The Hindi and Urdu word for cardamom, the small green pod prized across South Asia and the Gulf. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/elaichi)
- **Badi elaichi**: Black cardamom: the big, dark, smoke-dried pod used in savoury North Indian and Chinese cooking. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/badi-elaichi)
- **Jeera**: The Hindi word for cumin, the small ridged seed that anchors dry-spice cooking from India to Mexico. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/jeera)
- **Shahi jeera**: The thin, dark, sweeter cousin of cumin, used in Mughal-style rice and meat dishes. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/shahi-jeera)
- **Haldi**: The Hindi word for turmeric, the golden rhizome that colours curry and marks every Indian ritual. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/haldi)
- **Dhaniya**: The Hindi name for coriander, both the dry round seed and the fresh green leaf. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/dhaniya)
- **Methi**: Fenugreek seed and leaf: bitter, maple-scented and used in curries, pickles and spice blends. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/methi)
- **Kasuri methi**: Dried fenugreek leaves, crushed over North Indian curries at the end of cooking. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/kasuri-methi)
- **Kali mirch**: The Hindi name for black pepper, the dried berry of Piper nigrum and the most traded spice in history. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/kali-mirch)
- **Lal mirch**: Red chilli, whole or ground, the main source of heat in Indian cooking since the sixteenth century. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/lal-mirch)
- **Laung**: The Hindi word for clove, a dried flower bud with a strong, sweet, numbing scent. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/laung)
- **Dalchini**: The Hindi word for cinnamon, a sweet bark that in India usually means the stronger cassia kind. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/dalchini)
- **Javitri**: Mace: the lacy red covering of the nutmeg seed, finer and more floral than nutmeg itself. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/javitri)
- **Jaiphal**: Nutmeg, the hard brown seed of a tropical tree, grated fresh into sweet and savoury dishes. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/jaiphal)
- **Hing**: Asafoetida, a pungent resin that smells strongly raw and turns savoury, onion-like once fried. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/hing)
- **Ajwain**: Carom seed, a small ridged seed with a sharp, thyme-like flavour used in breads and fried snacks. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/ajwain)
- **Saunf**: Fennel seed, sweet and anise-like, chewed after meals and used in pickles, fish and sweet drinks. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/saunf)
- **Kalonji**: Nigella seed: tiny black teardrop seeds with an oregano and onion tang, sprinkled on breads and pickles. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/kalonji)
- **Rai**: Mustard seed, popped in hot oil in southern and eastern India for a nutty, sharp flavour. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/rai)
- **Imli**: Tamarind: the sticky, sour pod pulp that gives sourness to chutneys, sambar and street food. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/imli)
- **Amchur**: Dried green mango powder, a sour, tangy seasoning that does not add liquid. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/amchur)
- **Kokum**: A dried purple-black fruit rind from the Konkan coast that gives mild sourness and a pink tint. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/kokum)
- **Tej patta**: The leaf of a cinnamon-family tree, used whole in Indian rice and curry bases. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/tej-patta)
- **Chakri phool**: Star anise, the eight-pointed seed pod that gives a licorice scent to biryani, pho and five-spice. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/chakri-phool)
- **Sumac**: A tart, dark-red ground berry of the Middle East, used to sour salads, kebabs and rice. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/sumac)
- **Za'atar**: Both a wild herb of the Levant and the blend made from it with sesame seeds and sumac. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/zaatar)
- **Mahleb**: The kernel of a wild cherry stone, giving a floral, almond-and-cherry scent to breads and pastries. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/mahleb)
- **Nigella**: The botanical name for the black seed plant, grown in gardens for its flowers and in kitchens for its seeds. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/nigella)
- **Pippali**: Long pepper: a fruiting catkin hotter and sweeter than black pepper, the pepper of the ancient world. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/pippali)
- **Adrak and sonth**: Adrak is fresh ginger root; sonth is the same rhizome dried and ground, with a sharper, warmer bite. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/adrak-sonth)
- **Kesar**: Saffron, the crimson threads of the crocus flower and the world's most expensive spice by weight. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/kesar)
- **Khus khus**: Poppy seed, a creamy, nutty white or blue-grey seed used to thicken curries and top breads. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/khus-khus)
- **Til**: Sesame seed, one of the oldest oil crops, toasted for sweets, spice mixes and ritual offerings. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/til)
- **Anardana**: Dried sour pomegranate seed, a tart, chewy spice used in North Indian and Persian cooking. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/anardana)
- **Kabab chini**: Cubeb, a tailed pepper with a piney, allspice-like taste once a staple of medieval European kitchens. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/kabab-chini)
- **Kadi patta**: Curry leaf, a glossy aromatic leaf popped in oil at the start of South Indian dishes. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/kadi-patta)
- **Pandan**: A long green leaf of Southeast Asia that perfumes rice, cakes and coconut desserts. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/pandan)
- **Galangal**: A pale, firm rhizome related to ginger, sharper and more piney, vital to Thai and Indonesian pastes. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/galangal)
- **Lemongrass**: A tall tropical grass whose pale lower stalk gives lemon-like freshness to Southeast Asian food. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/lemongrass)
- **Sichuan pepper**: A citrusy, tingling, numbing husk from the Sichuan region of China, unrelated to true pepper. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/sichuan-pepper)
- **Grains of paradise**: Small West African seeds with a peppery, citrus and cardamom flavour once a European pepper substitute. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/grains-of-paradise)
- **Allspice**: The dried berry of a Caribbean tree that tastes like cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and pepper at once. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/allspice)
- **Vanilla**: The cured seed pod of an orchid, second most expensive spice, native to Mexico. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/vanilla)
- **Juniper**: A resinous blue-black cone berry that flavours gin, game and Scandinavian and German stews. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/juniper)
- **Caraway**: A crescent-shaped seed with a sharp, rye-bread flavour, central in Central European cooking. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/caraway)
- **Paprika**: Ground dried red pepper, from sweet and mild to hot, the red of Hungarian goulash. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/paprika)
- **Pimentón**: Smoked Spanish paprika from La Vera, dried over oak fires and ground to a deep red powder. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/pimenton)
- **Cayenne**: A thin, hot red chilli powder named after the city of Cayenne in French Guiana. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/cayenne)
- **Chipotle**: A ripe jalapeño dried over wood smoke, giving a deep, sweet smoke and slow heat. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/chipotle)
- **Aleppo pepper**: A mild, fruity, slightly oily chilli flake from Syria and Turkey, used as a table seasoning. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/aleppo-pepper)
- **Gochugaru**: Korean red pepper flakes, sun-dried and slightly sweet, the heart of kimchi and gochujang. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/gochugaru)
- **Kashmiri chilli**: A mild, deep-red Indian chilli grown for colour more than for heat. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/kashmiri-chilli)
- **Hari mirch**: Fresh green chilli, sliced, slit or pounded into Indian food for heat and a grassy bite. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/hari-mirch)
- **Ghost pepper**: A very hot chilli from northeast India, once the world's hottest at over a million Scoville units. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/ghost-pepper)
- **Wasabi**: A green Japanese root whose nasal-clearing heat is a short, sharp vapour rather than a lasting burn. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/wasabi)
- **Masala**: A Hindi and Urdu word for a spice or a blend of spices, and by extension the dish made with it. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/masala)
- **Garam masala**: A North Indian blend of warming ground spices, added toward the end of cooking. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/garam-masala)
- **Panch phoron**: A Bengali mix of five whole seeds, cumin, nigella, fennel, fenugreek and mustard, fried in oil. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/panch-phoron)
- **Chaat masala**: A tangy, salty North Indian blend with black salt and amchur, sprinkled on fruit and street snacks. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/chaat-masala)
- **Sambar powder**: A South Indian dry blend of roasted lentils, chillies and seeds that gives sambar its flavour. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/sambar-powder)
- **Curry powder**: A British-era spice blend that packaged Indian flavour for export, not a traditional Indian product. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/curry-powder)
- **Ras el hanout**: A Moroccan blend whose name means head of the shop, the best the spice seller can mix. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/ras-el-hanout)
- **Baharat**: A warm Middle Eastern blend, the Arabic word for spices, based on pepper, cinnamon and cloves. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/baharat)
- **Berbere**: An Ethiopian and Eritrean chilli-based blend with fenugreek and warm spices, the base of many stews. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/berbere)
- **Dukkah**: An Egyptian dry dip of crushed nuts, sesame and spices, eaten with bread dipped in olive oil. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/dukkah)
- **Five-spice powder**: A Chinese blend of five warming spices, anchored by star anise and cassia, balancing the five tastes. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/five-spice)
- **Jerk seasoning**: A Jamaican blend of allspice, scotch bonnet chilli and thyme for slow-grilled meat. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/jerk-seasoning)
- **Shichimi togarashi**: A Japanese table blend of chilli, sansho, sesame, orange peel, nori and other seven ingredients. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/shichimi-togarashi)
- **Cassia and cinnamon**: Two related barks sold under one name: true Ceylon cinnamon and the stronger, cheaper cassia. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/cassia-and-cinnamon)
- **Sarson ka tel**: Pungent mustard seed oil, the cooking fat of Bengal, Punjab and Kashmir, usually heated until smoking. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/sarson-tel)
- **Tadka**: Whole spices crackled in hot fat, then poured over a dish; the signature finishing step of Indian cooking. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/tadka)
- **Tempering**: The English word for tadka: heating whole spices in fat so their flavour passes into the oil. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/tempering)
- **Bhuna**: Frying a spice and onion paste slowly until the oil separates, to build a deep, concentrated flavour base. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/bhuna)
- **Dum**: Slow cooking in a sealed pot over low heat, so spices and steam perfume the food. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/dum)
- **Dry toasting**: Heating whole spices in a dry pan until fragrant, to deepen flavour before grinding. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/dry-toasting)
- **Blooming in oil**: Frying ground or whole spices briefly in fat to release their fat-soluble flavour and colour. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/blooming-in-oil)
- **Pounding**: Crushing spices with force in a mortar, which releases oils and mixes ingredients into a paste. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/pounding)
- **Grinding**: Reducing whole spices to powder by stone, blade or mortar; the finer the grind, the faster flavour fades. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/grinding)
- **Mortar and pestle**: A bowl and a heavy stick, the oldest spice tool, used worldwide for crushing and blending. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/mortar-and-pestle)
- **Sil batta**: The flat stone slab and rolling stone used across South Asia for grinding wet and dry spice pastes. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/sil-batta)
- **Khalbatta**: A small metal mortar and pestle used in Indian homes to crush ginger, garlic, cardamom and whole spices. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/khalbatta)
- **Spice grinder**: An electric blade or burr mill for powdering spices at home, best used in short bursts. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/spice-grinder)
- **Whole vs ground**: Whole spices keep their flavour for years; ground spices start losing it within weeks. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/whole-vs-ground)
- **Cold infusion**: Steeping spices in cool water, milk or oil to draw out gentle flavour without heat. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/cold-infusion)
- **Hot infusion**: Simmering or steeping spices in hot liquid, as in chai, mulled wine and broths. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/hot-infusion)
- **Ma la**: The Sichuan taste pairing of tingling numbness (ma) and chilli heat (la). (https://everymasala.com/concepts/ma-la)
- **Umami**: The savoury taste of glutamate-rich food, which spices can deepen but rarely supply. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/umami)
- **Maillard reaction**: The browning chemistry between sugars and amino acids that makes toasted spices and seared food taste rich. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/maillard)
- **Wet masala**: A paste of fresh and dry spices ground with water, oil or aromatics, the base of many curries. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/wet-masala)
- **Masala base**: The cooked foundation of onion, ginger, garlic, tomato and spice that most Indian gravies are built on. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/masala-base)
- **Marinade**: A seasoned liquid or paste in which meat or vegetables rest before cooking. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/marinade)
- **Dry rub**: A dry spice and salt mix rubbed on meat or vegetables before grilling or smoking. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/dry-rub)
- **Spice oil**: Oil infused with chilli, spices or aromatics, used as a condiment or cooking fat. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/spice-oil)
- **Ghee and spice**: Clarified butter as a spice carrier, used in India, Ethiopia and the Middle East. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/ghee-and-spice)
- **Coconut and spice**: Coconut as the partner of spice along the tropical coasts, as milk, paste or oil. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/coconut-and-spice)
- **Layering spices**: Adding spices at different stages of cooking so each contributes a different note. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/layering-spices)
- **Order of addition**: The sequence in which spices enter the pan, set by how fast each burns and how fragile its aroma is. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/order-of-addition)
- **Taming heat**: Ways cooks soften chilli burn with fat, dairy, sugar, acid or starch. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/taming-heat)
- **Heat tolerance**: The way regular chilli eaters become less sensitive to burn over time. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/heat-tolerance)
- **Bitterness**: A taste found in fenugreek, turmeric and burnt spice, useful in small amounts and unpleasant in large ones. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/bitterness)
- **Astringency**: A puckering, drying feel in the mouth, from tannins in spices like sumac, clove and tamarind skins. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/astringency)
- **Sourness**: Acidity in the spice kitchen: amchur, tamarind, kokum, sumac, anardana and dried lime. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/sourness)
- **Salt and spice**: How salt works with spice, and the spiced and mineral salts of the world. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/salt-and-spice)
- **Smoke flavour**: The taste of spices dried or finished over fire: smoked paprika, black cardamom, chipotle and dhungar. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/smoke-flavour)
- **Podi**: A dry South Indian condiment of roasted lentils, chilli and spices, eaten with idli, dosa and rice. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/podi)
- **Achar masala**: Coarse spice mixes for pickles: mustard, fenugreek, fennel, nigella and chilli, in mustard oil. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/achar-masala)
- **Chai masala**: A tea spice blend of cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and pepper, boiled with milk and tea. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/chai-masala)
- **Mulling**: Warming wine, cider or ale with spices such as cinnamon, cloves, orange peel and star anise. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/mulling)
- **Scoville scale**: The standard measure of chilli pungency, devised in 1912 and now based on chemical measurement. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/scoville)
- **Pungency**: The biting, burning or tingling sensation spices cause, which is felt as pain-adjacent touch rather than taste. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/pungency)
- **Piperine**: The alkaloid that gives black pepper its bite, less fierce and shorter-lasting than capsaicin. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/piperine)
- **Capsaicin**: The compound that makes chillies hot, concentrated in the white pith around the seeds. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/capsaicin)
- **Curcumin**: The yellow pigment of turmeric, a dye and food colourant, soluble in oil but not in water. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/curcumin)
- **Cuminaldehyde**: The chief aroma molecule of cumin, responsible for its earthy, warm, slightly sour smell. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/cuminaldehyde)
- **Cinnamaldehyde**: The compound that gives cinnamon and cassia their sweet, warm scent and a mild tingle. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/cinnamaldehyde)
- **Eugenol**: The main aroma compound of clove, also found in allspice, basil and cinnamon leaf. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/eugenol)
- **Thymol**: A sharp, herbal phenol in thyme, ajwain and oregano, giving them a medicinal, tingling scent. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/thymol)
- **Linalool**: A floral, citrus-like terpene that dominates coriander seed oil and appears in many spices. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/linalool)
- **Anethole**: The sweet, licorice-like compound of anise, fennel and star anise, much sweeter than sugar to the nose. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/anethole)
- **Carvone**: A terpene that smells of caraway in one form and spearmint in its mirror image. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/carvone)
- **Gingerol**: The compounds behind ginger's heat, which change into milder or sharper forms when ginger is cooked or dried. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/gingerol)
- **Allyl isothiocyanate**: The volatile compound that gives mustard, horseradish and wasabi their nose-clearing sharpness. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/allyl-isothiocyanate)
- **Sanshool**: The molecule behind the numbing buzz of Sichuan pepper, felt as a vibration on lips and tongue. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/sanshool)
- **Sulphur compounds**: The pungent sulphur molecules in hing, garlic and onion that turn sweet and savoury with heat. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/sulphur-compounds)
- **Essential oil**: The fragrant, volatile oil within a spice, the source of most of its aroma and flavour. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/essential-oil)
- **Oleoresin**: A solvent extract of a spice that carries both its aroma oil and its resins, used by food manufacturers. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/oleoresin)
- **Volatile oils**: The light, easily evaporating molecules that carry most of the scent of spices and fade fastest. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/volatile-oils)
- **Oil-soluble flavour**: Most spice flavour and colour molecules dissolve in fat, which is why oil is the best carrier. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/oil-soluble)
- **Water-soluble flavour**: The sugars, acids, tannins and some pigments of spices that dissolve into water, stock and tea. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/water-soluble)
- **Aroma vs heat**: Spice has two separate layers: what you smell, and what you feel as bite, and both are worth balancing. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/aroma-vs-heat)
- **Retronasal smell**: How aroma released while chewing travels up the back of the throat to the nose and makes up most of flavour. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/retronasal-smell)
- **Flavour pairing**: Spices that go well together, often because they share aroma compounds or contrast in taste. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/flavour-pairing)
- **Terroir of spice**: The way soil, altitude, climate and curing shape a spice, so the same plant tastes different by origin. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/terroir-of-spice)
- **Harvest timing**: When a spice is picked decides its character: green, ripe or dried peppercorn, bud or open clove. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/harvest-timing)
- **Drying spices**: Removing moisture from harvested spice, by sun, shade, kiln or machine, to stop rot and fix flavour. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/drying-spices)
- **Curing**: Controlled sweating and drying that develops flavour in vanilla, pepper, cardamom and other spices. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/curing)
- **Cleaning and grading**: Removing dust, stems and stones and sorting spice by size, colour and quality before sale. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/cleaning-and-grading)
- **ASTA colour**: A standard measure of the red pigment in paprika and chilli, set by the American Spice Trade Association. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/asta-colour)
- **Fumigation**: Treating spices with gas or steam to kill insects and microbes before shipping, now closely regulated. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/fumigation)
- **Steam sterilisation**: Short, high-heat steam that cuts microbes on spice without chemical residues. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/steam-sterilisation)
- **Aflatoxin**: A toxin from moulds that can grow on poorly dried chillies, nutmeg and other spices. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/aflatoxin)
- **Adulteration**: Deliberately adding cheap or harmful material to spice, from brick dust to banned dyes. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/adulteration)
- **Sudan dye**: A banned industrial red dye that has been found in chilli powder and other spices. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/sudan-dye)
- **GI tags**: Legal marks that tie a food or spice name to a region where it is traditionally produced. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/gi-tags)
- **Fair trade**: Certification and sourcing schemes that pay spice growers a stable price and a community premium. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/fair-trade)
- **Organic spice**: Spice grown without synthetic pesticides or fertiliser under a certified standard. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/organic-spice)
- **Single origin**: Spice from one named region or farm, sold with its origin as a mark of quality. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/single-origin)
- **Spice route**: The sea and land networks that carried spices from Asia to Africa and Europe for over four thousand years. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/spice-route)
- **Monsoon trade**: Trade timed to the seasonal reversal of Indian Ocean winds, which carried ships to India and back. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/monsoon-trade)
- **Malabar Coast**: The southwest coast of India, home of black pepper, cardamom and the ancient port of Muziris. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/malabar-coast)
- **Pepper wars**: The sixteenth and seventeenth century struggles by Portugal, the Netherlands and England to control the spice trade. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/pepper-wars)
- **Banda Islands**: A small Indonesian island group that was once the world's only source of nutmeg and mace. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/banda-islands)
- **Penang**: A Malaysian island port where the British planted nutmeg and clove to break the Dutch monopoly. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/penang)
- **Zanzibar**: An East African island that became the world's leading clove producer in the nineteenth century. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/zanzibar)
- **Pepper as currency**: The long history of pepper used for rent, tribute, dowry and ransom. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/pepper-currency)
- **Venetian spice trade**: How Venice grew rich as the main European buyer of spices from Egypt and the Levant. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/venetian-monopoly)
- **Spice auctions**: Regulated marketplaces where growers and traders sell cardamom, pepper and other spice by lot. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/spice-auctions)
- **Grades of pepper**: Pepper is sold in grades by berry size and density, from Tellicherry extra bold to garbled mixtures. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/grades-of-pepper)
- **Shelf life**: How long a spice keeps its flavour: years for whole, months for ground, weeks for fragile blends. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/shelf-life)
- **Whole spice storage**: Keep whole spices cool, dark and dry, in sealed jars, away from the stove. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/whole-spice-storage)
- **Airtight**: Sealed containers slow the loss of aroma and the creep of moisture into spices. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/airtight)
- **Light and heat**: Light fades colour and heat drives off aroma, so spices belong in the dark and cool. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/light-and-heat)
- **Freshness test**: A quick check: crush a pinch and smell it; a weak scent means a spent spice. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/freshness-test)
- **Buying spices**: Choose whole spices, small quantities, high turnover shops and clear origin. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/buying-spices)
- **Spice box**: A round tin with seven small bowls, the working spice kit of an Indian kitchen. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/spice-box)
- **Spice bazaar**: A market of spice sellers, from Delhi's Khari Baoli to Istanbul's Egyptian Bazaar and Marrakech's souks. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/spice-bazaar)
- **Fermented chilli**: Chillies preserved by salt and fermentation, the base of gochujang, sriracha and many hot sauces. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/fermented-chilli)
- **Sadya**: The Kerala vegetarian feast served on a banana leaf, with up to two dozen dishes in a set order. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/sadya)
- **Thali**: A round platter of small bowls that offers a full meal: dal, vegetables, bread, rice, pickle and sweet. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/thali)
- **Mezze**: A spread of small dishes across the Levant, Turkey and Greece, flavoured with sumac, za'atar and cumin. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/mezze)
- **Kaiseki**: Japan's formal seasonal meal, where spice is restrained and used as an accent: sansho, wasabi, yuzu, ginger. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/kaiseki)
- **Breakfast spices**: The spices of the first meal: cumin in eggs, cardamom in porridge, za'atar on flatbread, ginger in tea. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/breakfast-spices)
- **Supper**: The light, late meal, where spice tends toward the gentle: milk, soups, dals and warm drinks. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/supper)
- **Snack masalas**: The dry spice mixes sprinkled on snacks, from chaat masala on fruit to chilli-lime on corn. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/snack-masalas)
- **Street food**: Cooked-to-order food sold in markets and on roadsides, where spice is the main attraction. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/street-food)
- **Chaat**: India's tangy street snacks of crisp, chutney, yoghurt and spice, built on sweet, sour and hot. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/chaat)
- **Iftar**: The sunset meal that breaks the Ramadan fast, often with dates, soups and spiced dishes. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/iftar)
- **Festival sweets**: Sweets made with cardamom, saffron, nutmeg and cinnamon for festivals around the world. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/festival-sweets)
- **Wedding feast**: The large celebratory meal, where costly spices such as saffron, cardamom and mace mark generosity. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/wedding-feast)
- **Besamim**: The fragrant spices smelled at Havdalah, the ceremony that ends the Jewish Sabbath. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/besamim)
- **Incense resin**: Hardened tree sap burned for scent in worship and homes, including frankincense, myrrh, benzoin and copal. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/incense-resin)
- **Frankincense**: A white-yellow resin of Boswellia trees from Oman, Yemen and the Horn of Africa, burned in sacred settings. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/frankincense)
- **Myrrh**: A reddish aromatic resin from Commiphora trees, used in incense, anointing oil and perfume since antiquity. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/myrrh)
- **Dhoop**: Indian incense: sticks, cones and resin blends burned at home altars and in temples. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/dhoop)
- **Kapoor**: Camphor, a crystalline aromatic burned in Hindu aarti, from the camphor laurel tree. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/kapoor)
- **Kumkum**: The red powder of Hindu ritual, applied as a mark on the forehead and offered to deities. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/kumkum)
- **Haldi ceremony**: The pre-wedding rite in which turmeric paste is applied to the bride and groom. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/haldi-ceremony)
- **Saffron in ritual**: Saffron's place in Hindu offerings, Kashmiri Pandit customs and Persian celebration and hospitality. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/saffron-ritual)
- **Navagraha**: The nine celestial influences of Hindu astrology, each linked to grains, flowers and spices offered in worship. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/navagraha)
- **Panchamrit**: A sacred mix of milk, curd, honey, sugar and ghee, offered to deities and shared as prasad. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/panchamrit)
- **Prasad**: Food first offered to a deity and then shared among devotees, often spiced with cardamom, ghee and cumin. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/prasad)
- **Puja spices**: The turmeric, cloves, cardamom, camphor and saffron set out in Hindu household worship. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/puja-spices)
- **Lent and fasting spices**: Spices tied to fasting seasons: mahleb and mastic in Greek Easter bread, rock salt and cumin in Hindu vrat food. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/lent-spices)
- **Haft-sin**: The Nowruz table of seven items starting with the Persian letter sin, including sumac, garlic and vinegar. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/haft-sin)
- **Rasa**: In Ayurvedic tradition, rasa is taste, and each taste is tied to qualities and effects on the body's balance. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/ayurvedic-rasa)
- **The six tastes**: Sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent: the Ayurvedic frame for a balanced meal. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/six-tastes)
- **Doshas**: Three humours of Ayurvedic tradition, vata, pitta and kapha, used to talk about food and temperament. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/doshas)
- **Unani**: A Greco-Arabic medical tradition practised in South Asia that classes spices as hot or cold and dry or moist. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/unani)
- **Hot and cold foods**: A worldwide folk idea that foods and spices are warming or cooling, regardless of their actual temperature. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/hot-and-cold-foods)
- **Warming spices in TCM**: In traditional Chinese thinking, ginger, cinnamon, pepper and fennel are classed as warming foods. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/tcm-warming)
- **Harissa**: A North African chilli paste of peppers, garlic, caraway, coriander and olive oil. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/harissa)
- **Hawaij**: Yemeni spice blends: one for soups and stews, built on cumin, pepper and turmeric, and one sweet for coffee. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/hawaij)
- **Advieh**: Persian spice blends, with rose petals, cardamom and cinnamon, for rice and stews. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/advieh)
- **Quatre épices**: A French blend of ground pepper, nutmeg, clove and ginger or cinnamon, used in charcuterie. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/quatre-epices)
- **Pumpkin spice**: An American autumn blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove and allspice, sold ready mixed. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/pumpkin-spice)
- **Old Bay**: A celery-salt based American seasoning of paprika, pepper and bay for seafood, born in Baltimore. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/old-bay)
- **Adobo**: A word for several seasoned marinades: Spanish and Mexican chilli adobo, Latin American dry mix and Filipino vinegar adobo. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/adobo)
- **Mole**: Mexico's great sauces of dried chillies, spices, nuts, seeds and sometimes chocolate. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/mole)
- **Annatto**: Orange-red seeds of a tropical shrub, used as colour and mild earthy flavour in Latin America and the Caribbean. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/annatto)
- **Mastic**: A pale resin from mastic trees on the Greek island of Chios, used in sweets, drinks and breads. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/mastic)
- **Pho spices**: The toasted star anise, cinnamon, clove, cardamom and ginger that scent Vietnamese pho broth. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/pho-spices)
- **Kimchi seasoning**: The red paste of gochugaru, garlic, ginger and fish sauce rubbed into cabbage for kimchi. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/kimchi-seasoning)
- **Biryani layering**: How biryani builds flavour in layers: whole spices, marinade, fried onion, saffron milk and sealed cooking. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/biryani-layers)
- **Kewra**: A sweet floral water from screwpine flowers, sprinkled on biryani, kheer and Mughal sweets. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/kewra)
- **Loomi**: Whole limes boiled in brine and sun-dried until hard and black, giving a sour, musky depth to Gulf and Iraqi dishes. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/loomi)
- **Sofrito**: A slow-cooked aromatic base of onion, pepper, garlic and herbs, spiced with cumin, paprika or annatto. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/sofrito)
- **Tajín**: A Mexican dusting of mild chilli, dried lime and salt, sprinkled on fruit, cucumber and corn. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/tajin)
- **Vadouvan**: A French-Indian blend from Pondicherry, with fried shallots, garlic, cumin, mustard and fenugreek. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/vadouvan)
- **Sazón**: A Latin American seasoning of annatto, cumin, coriander, garlic and salt, which tints rice orange. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/sazon)
- **Tabil**: A Tunisian blend built on coriander seed, caraway, garlic and chilli, used to season stews and fish. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/tabil)
- **Goda masala**: A dark, sweet-spiced Maharashtrian blend with dagad phool, coconut and sesame. (https://everymasala.com/concepts/kala-masala)

## Spices
- [Chili pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/chili-pepper), Peru: The pungent berry of the Capsicum plant, used to add heat to dishes worldwide.
- [Fennel](https://everymasala.com/s/fennel), India: The anise-scented seeds and crisp bulb of a Mediterranean perennial herb
- [Basil](https://everymasala.com/s/basil), India: A tender culinary herb with glossy leaves and a licorice-like aroma, native to tropical Asia.
- [Cinnamon](https://everymasala.com/s/cinnamon), Sri Lanka: The dried inner bark of Cinnamomum trees, prized for its sweet warmth and essential oil.
- [Parsley](https://everymasala.com/s/parsley), Greece: A bright green herb from the celery family, used fresh across Europe and the Middle East.
- [Caraway](https://everymasala.com/s/caraway), Austria: The crescent-shaped fruit of a carrot-family herb, used to flavour breads and spirits.
- [Saffron](https://everymasala.com/s/saffron), Iran: The dried crimson stigmas of the autumn-blooming saffron crocus.
- [Nutmeg](https://everymasala.com/s/nutmeg), Indonesia: The dried seed of a tropical evergreen tree, prized for its warm, pungent flavor.
- [Tarragon](https://everymasala.com/s/tarragon), Russia: A slender perennial herb with anise-scented leaves, prized in French and Middle Eastern cooking.
- [Cardamom](https://everymasala.com/s/cardamom), India: Aromatic seeds from spindle-shaped pods used in sweet and savory dishes across Asia and the Middle East.
- [Yaji](https://everymasala.com/s/yaji-spice-blend), Nigeria: A spicy rub from Nigeria made with chili, ginger, and ground peanuts.
- [Paprika Žitava](https://everymasala.com/s/paprika-zitava), Slovakia: A sweet red spice from Slovakia's Danubian Lowland, ground with a special stone to release its colour.
- [Habanaga pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/habanaga), United States: A hot New Mexican chilli born from an accidental habanero and ghost pepper cross
- [Yongfeng chili sauce](https://everymasala.com/s/yongfeng-chili-sauce), China: A fermented paste of peppers, rice and wheat from Hunan province, one of the region's three treasures.
- [Nufar basil](https://everymasala.com/s/nufar-basil), Israel: A sweet basil variety bred in Israel to resist a deadly fungal wilt disease.
- [Gingermint](https://everymasala.com/s/mentha-gracilis), United States: A sterile mint hybrid grown for essential oil and chewing gum flavour.
- [Pineapple sage](https://everymasala.com/s/salvia-elegans), Mexico: A Mexican shrub with leaves that smell of pineapple and flowers that feed hummingbirds
- [Curry paste](https://everymasala.com/s/curry-paste), India: A blended mixture of spices and aromatics used as the base for curries in Asia.
- [Lunumiris](https://everymasala.com/s/lunumiris), Sri Lanka: A traditional Sri Lankan condiment of ground chillies and salt
- [Thuna paha](https://everymasala.com/s/thuna-paha), Sri Lanka: A Sri Lankan unroasted curry powder made from cumin, fennel, and coriander seeds.
- [Chammanthi podi](https://everymasala.com/s/chammanthi-podi), India: A dry coconut and spice condiment from Kerala that preserves fresh chutney for months.
- [Kair](https://everymasala.com/s/capparis-decidua), India: The spicy pink berry and flower bud of a drought-hardy desert bush
- [East Indian arrowroot](https://everymasala.com/s/curcuma-angustifolia), India: A wild South Asian ginger valued for its turmeric-scented foliage and starchy rhizome.
- [Temulawak](https://everymasala.com/s/curcuma-zanthorrhiza), Indonesia: The rhizome of a Javanese ginger relative, used for its earthy flavour and traditional wellness drinks.
- [Wild turmeric](https://everymasala.com/s/curcuma-aromatica), India: A South Asian rhizome with a musky scent, used for colouring and skin care.
- [Indonesian bay leaf](https://everymasala.com/s/syzygium-polyanthum), Indonesia: The aromatic leaves of a Myrtaceae tree used to flavour soups and stews across Indonesia and Suriname.
- [Khao khua](https://everymasala.com/s/khao-khua), Laos: Dry-toasted sticky rice, ground rough, the nutty backbone of Lao laab
- [Kroeung](https://everymasala.com/s/kroeung), Cambodia: The pounded herb paste that gives Khmer dishes their base flavour
- [Chinese prickly-ash](https://everymasala.com/s/zanthoxylum-simulans), China: A thorny East Asian shrub whose reddish berries yield Sichuan pepper
- [Hilbeh](https://everymasala.com/s/hulbah), Yemen: A frothy Yemeni condiment made from ground fenugreek seeds and water
- [Utskho suneli](https://everymasala.com/s/utskho-suneli), Georgia: A traditional Georgian spice blend featuring blue fenugreek.
- [Greek sage](https://everymasala.com/s/salvia-fruticosa), Palestine: A hairy Mediterranean shrub with pink flowers and edible fruit galls.
- [Ogiri](https://everymasala.com/s/ogiri), Nigeria: A fermented West African condiment made from oil-bearing seeds.
- [Mustard](https://everymasala.com/s/mustard), Italy: A pungent paste made from ground mustard seeds mixed with liquid and spices.
- [Dijon mustard](https://everymasala.com/s/dijon-mustard), France: A sharp condiment made from brown mustard seeds and white wine or verjuice, originating in Burgundy.
- [Choricero peppers](https://everymasala.com/s/choricero-peppers), Spain: A dried red pepper from Spain used to make rich stews and sauces.
- [Vanilla](https://everymasala.com/s/vanilla-planifolia), Mexico: The cured fruit of a climbing orchid, the world's primary source of vanilla flavouring
- [Spicebush](https://everymasala.com/s/lindera-benzoin), United States: The dried fruit of a North American shrub, used as an allspice substitute.
- [Chipotle](https://everymasala.com/s/chipotle), Mexico: Smoke-dried ripe jalapeño peppers used in Mexican and Tex-Mex cooking
- [Mulato pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/mulato-pepper), Mexico: A dried Mexican chilli with notes of chocolate and licorice
- [Californian white sage](https://everymasala.com/s/salvia-apiana), United States: An aromatic desert shrub whose seeds flavour maize foods and roots make tonic tea
- [Epis](https://everymasala.com/s/epis), Haiti: A blended flavor base of peppers, garlic, and herbs essential to Haitian cooking
- [Merkén](https://everymasala.com/s/merken), Chile: A traditional Mapuche smoked chili condiment from Chile, often mixed with coriander.
- [Salsa macha](https://everymasala.com/s/salsa-macha), Mexico: A Mexican condiment of dried chilies and oil, crushed to a coarse texture.
- [Common prickly ash](https://everymasala.com/s/zanthoxylum-americanum), United States: An aromatic North American tree whose bark and berries give a sharp, numbing bite
- [Muña](https://everymasala.com/s/minthostachys-mollis), Peru: An Andean aromatic herb brewed into tea across Peru and Bolivia
- [Kampot sea salt](https://everymasala.com/s/kampot-sea-salt), Cambodia: Hand-harvested sea salt from the coastal provinces of Cambodia
- [Moshio salt](https://everymasala.com/s/moshio-salt), Japan: A Japanese sea salt flavoured with dried hondawara seaweed.
- [Mostarda](https://everymasala.com/s/mostarda), Italy: A northern Italian condiment of candied fruit in a sharp mustard syrup
- [Erode Turmeric](https://everymasala.com/s/erode-turmeric), India: A Geographical Indication turmeric from Tamil Nadu with high curcumin content.
- [Penja white pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/penja-pepper), Cameroon: A Cameroonian black pepper variety grown in the volcanic Penja Valley, protected by geographical indication.
- [Dried lime](https://everymasala.com/s/dried-lime), Oman: Sun-dried limes from the Persian Gulf, used whole or ground to add sour depth to Middle Eastern dishes.
- [Vanilla](https://everymasala.com/s/vanilla), Mexico: The cured seed pods of a climbing orchid, the world's second-most expensive spice by weight.
- [Kewra](https://everymasala.com/s/kewra), India: A fragrant essential oil distilled from the male flowers of the screwpine plant.
- [Ceylon cinnamon](https://everymasala.com/s/cinnamomum-verum), Sri Lanka: The inner bark of a Sri Lankan evergreen, prized for its delicate, sweet spice.
- [Annatto](https://everymasala.com/s/annatto), Mexico: The orange-red pigment from achiote seeds used as a natural food coloring and mild spice.
- [Poppy seed](https://everymasala.com/s/poppy-seed), Turkey: The tiny kidney-shaped oilseed of the opium poppy, used in baking and cooking across Europe and South Asia.
- [Zhug](https://everymasala.com/s/zhug), Yemen: A Yemeni hot sauce of crushed chilies, garlic, and coriander
- [Mastic](https://everymasala.com/s/mastic-plant-resin), Greece: A bitter-sweet resin from the mastic tree, used in desserts and traditional medicine.
- [Malagueta pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/malagueta-pepper), Brazil: A small, fiery chili from Capsicum frutescens used across Portuguese-speaking regions.
- [Indian prickly ash](https://everymasala.com/s/zanthoxylum-rhetsa), India: A pungent fruit from a thorny shrub, used for its tingling spice in coastal India and Vietnam.
- [Shishito pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/shishito), Japan: A slender East Asian chili that is mostly mild with occasional spicy surprises.
- [Dalle Khursani](https://everymasala.com/s/dalle-khursani), Nepal: A round, fiery chilli from the Himalayas, known for its intense heat and vitamin content.
- [Rock samphire](https://everymasala.com/s/crithmum), United Kingdom: A coastal succulent with peppery leaves and carrot-scented roots, used fresh or pickled.
- [Bush tomato](https://everymasala.com/s/bush-tomato), Australia: The dried fruit of a native Australian nightshade shrub, traditionally eaten by Aboriginal peoples.
- [Karashi](https://everymasala.com/s/karashi), Japan: A potent Japanese mustard made from brown mustard seeds, served as a sharp condiment.
- [Malabar pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/malabar-pepper), India: A Geographical Indication black pepper from Kerala and neighbouring regions.
- [Shatta](https://everymasala.com/s/shatta), Egypt: A fermented chili and garlic condiment from the Levant
- [Wattleseed](https://everymasala.com/s/wattleseed), Australia: The edible seed of Australian Acacia trees, traditionally ground into flour by Aboriginal Australians.
- [Benzoin resin](https://everymasala.com/s/benzoin-resin), Thailand: A sweet balsamic tree resin used in incense, perfumes, and traditional medicine.
- [Lakadong turmeric](https://everymasala.com/s/lakadong-turmeric), India: A high-curcumin turmeric variety grown organically in the Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya, India.
- [Spearmint](https://everymasala.com/s/spearmint), China: The square-stemmed herb with pointed leaves used for tea and flavouring oil.
- [Kala masala](https://everymasala.com/s/kala-masala), India: A dark roasted spice blend from Maharashtra used for everyday home cooking.
- [Yuzu koshō](https://everymasala.com/s/yuzu-kosho), Japan: A fermented Japanese paste of chili peppers and yuzu citrus peel.
- [Pilpelchuma](https://everymasala.com/s/pilpelchuma), Libya: A steamed chili and garlic paste from Libyan Jewish cuisine, now common in Israel.
- [Grains of Selim](https://everymasala.com/s/grains-of-selim), Ghana: The dried fruit of a West African shrub, used as a peppery spice and coffee flavouring.
- [Paprika](https://everymasala.com/s/paprika), Mexico: A red powder made from dried Capsicum annuum peppers, used to colour and flavour dishes across Europe and the Middle Eas
- [Garam masala](https://everymasala.com/s/garam-masala), India: A ground blend of warm spices from the Indian subcontinent used to finish curries and stews.
- [Lovage](https://everymasala.com/s/lovage), Afghanistan: A tall European herb with celery-like leaves and spicy seeds used in soups and broths.
- [Jalapeño](https://everymasala.com/s/jalapeno), Mexico: A medium-sized Capsicum annuum cultivar from Mexico known for its green pods and moderate heat.
- [Greater galangal](https://everymasala.com/s/alpinia-galanga), Indonesia: The pungent rhizome of a ginger relative, essential in Southeast Asian soups and curries.
- [Curry powder](https://everymasala.com/s/curry-powder), India: A Western adaptation of Indian spice blends for cooking sauces and stews.
- [Sichuan pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/sichuan-pepper), China: The dried husk of Zanthoxylum fruit, prized for its citrus scent and electric numbness.
- [Bay leaf](https://everymasala.com/s/bay-leaf), India: The dried or fresh leaves of the laurel tree, used to infuse depth into slow-cooked dishes.
- [Ghost pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/ghost-pepper), India: A superhot chili from Northeast India with over one million Scoville units of heat.
- [Za'atar](https://everymasala.com/s/za-atar), Lebanon: A Levantine blend of dried herbs, sumac, sesame seeds, and salt used in breads and dips.
- [Carolina Reaper](https://everymasala.com/s/carolina-reaper), United States: A gnarled red cultivar of Capsicum chinense bred in South Carolina for extreme heat.
- [Habanero](https://everymasala.com/s/habanero), Mexico: A very hot chili cultivar with a floral aroma, native to the Amazon and grown in Mexico.
- [Asafoetida](https://everymasala.com/s/asafoetida), Iran: A pungent gum-resin from the Ferula plant, used as a garlic and onion substitute in South Asian cooking.
- [Ras el hanout](https://everymasala.com/s/ras-el-hanout), Morocco: A complex Maghrebi spice blend meaning 'head of the shop', used in savory dishes across North Africa.
- [Berbere](https://everymasala.com/s/berbere), Ethiopia: A complex Ethiopian spice blend built on chili peppers, coriander, and ginger.
- [Piri piri](https://everymasala.com/s/piri-piri), Portugal: A very hot African cultivar of Capsicum frutescens used for spicy sauces and marinades
- [Juniper berry](https://everymasala.com/s/juniper-berry), Netherlands: The fleshy seed cone of the juniper tree, a piney spice for game and gin.
- [Herbes de Provence](https://everymasala.com/s/herbes-de-provence), France: A dried herb blend from southwestern France, now a global kitchen staple.
- [Fingerroot](https://everymasala.com/s/boesenbergia-rotunda), China: The finger-shaped rhizome of a tropical ginger relative, used fresh or pickled in Southeast Asian cooking.
- [Thyme](https://everymasala.com/s/thyme), Greece: The dried leaves of a Mediterranean mint-family herb, used to perfume stews and baths alike.
- [Gari](https://everymasala.com/s/gari-ginger), Japan: Thinly sliced young ginger pickled in sweet vinegar, served with sushi.
- [Bird's eye chili](https://everymasala.com/s/bird-s-eye-chili), Mexico: A small, intensely hot cultivar of Capsicum annuum native to Mexico and widely grown in Southeast Asia.
- [Shichimi](https://everymasala.com/s/shichimi), Japan: A Japanese seven-ingredient spice blend for finishing soups and noodles
- [Black salt](https://everymasala.com/s/kala-namak), India: A kiln-fired rock salt with a sulphurous aroma used in South Asian cooking and Ayurveda.
- [Chaat masala](https://everymasala.com/s/chaat-masala), India: A tangy Indian spice blend for savory snacks and fruit salads
- [Mahleb](https://everymasala.com/s/mahleb), Turkey: A ground cherry seed used to sweeten Middle Eastern baked goods with an almond-cherry note.
- [Mustard seed](https://everymasala.com/s/mustard-seed), India: Tiny seeds from Brassica plants that become a sharp condiment or cooking oil.
- [Thai basil](https://everymasala.com/s/thai-basil), Thailand: A Southeast Asian herb with purple stems and anise notes, used in curries and soups.
- [Baharat](https://everymasala.com/s/baharat), Jordan: A versatile Middle Eastern spice blend used to season meats and soups.
- [Khmeli suneli](https://everymasala.com/s/khmeli-suneli), Georgia: A flexible Georgian blend of dried herbs and seeds for stews and meats.
- [Long pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/piper-retrofractum), Indonesia: The dried fruit spike of a climbing vine native to Java, once the world's standard heat.
- [Mitmita](https://everymasala.com/s/mitmita), Ethiopia: A fiery Ethiopian spice blend of bird's eye chilies, cardamom, and cloves.
- [Panch phoron](https://everymasala.com/s/panch-phoron), Bangladesh: A Bengali blend of five whole seeds used to temper dishes
- [Chili oil](https://everymasala.com/s/chili-oil), China: A red condiment of infused vegetable oil and hot peppers used across Asia and Europe.
- [Aleppo pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/aleppo-pepper), Syria: A moderately spicy, fruity flake from Syria and Turkey, named for the city of Aleppo.
- [Mala](https://everymasala.com/s/mala), China: A fiery, tongue-numbing Chinese seasoning of Sichuan pepper and chillies
- [Pink peppercorn](https://everymasala.com/s/pink-peppercorn), Peru: The dried fruit of Schinus trees, offering a sweet, piney heat distinct from black pepper.
- [Tandoori masala](https://everymasala.com/s/tandoori-masala), India: A spice blend for clay-oven cooking in the Indian subcontinent
- [Espelette pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/espelette-pepper), France: A mild Basque chili with sweet, fruity notes and protected origin status.
- [Advieh](https://everymasala.com/s/advieh), Iran: A fragrant blend of spices used to season rice and stews in Iranian cooking.
- [Red Savina](https://everymasala.com/s/red-savina-pepper), United States: A selectively bred cultivar of Capsicum chinense known for its intense heat and wrinkled red fruit.
- [Poblano](https://everymasala.com/s/poblano), Mexico: A mild Mexican chili pepper that becomes the dried ancho when mature.
- [Hawaij](https://everymasala.com/s/hawaij), Yemen: A ground Yemeni spice blend used for soups, coffee, and everyday cooking.
- [Amchoor](https://everymasala.com/s/amchoor), India: A sour powder made from dried unripe green mangoes, used to add tang to Indian dishes.
- [Fleur de sel](https://everymasala.com/s/fleur-de-sel), France: A hand-raked crust of sea salt crystals gathered from evaporation pans.
- [Kosher salt](https://everymasala.com/s/kosher-salt), United States: Coarse edible salt used for dry brining and general cooking, typically free of iodine.
- [Tabil](https://everymasala.com/s/tabil), Tunisia: A Tunisian blend of coriander, caraway, garlic, and chili used to season stews.
- [Allspice](https://everymasala.com/s/allspice), Jamaica: The dried green berry of a tropical tree, named for its blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove notes.
- [Recado rojo](https://everymasala.com/s/recado-rojo), Mexico: A red-orange paste of annatto and spices used to marinate meats in Yucatán cuisine.
- [Mixed spice](https://everymasala.com/s/mixed-spice), United Kingdom: A British blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice for sweet baking
- [Kampot pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/kampot-pepper), Cambodia: A Cambodian cultivar of black pepper with a protected geographical indication status.
- [Crushed red pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/crushed-red-pepper), China: Dried and crushed chilli peppers, often with seeds, used as a spicy condiment.
- [Seasoned salt](https://everymasala.com/s/seasoned-salt), Australia: A dry mix of salt and spices used to flavour fried foods and meats.
- [Peperoncino](https://everymasala.com/s/peperoncino), Italy: A hot Italian chili pepper used in southern cuisine, dried and crushed for heat.
- [Garlic powder](https://everymasala.com/s/garlic-powder), China: A dry, savory spice made from dehydrated and ground garlic cloves.
- [Pumpkin pie spice](https://everymasala.com/s/pumpkin-pie-spice), United States: A blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves used in American autumn baking.
- [Cinnamon sugar](https://everymasala.com/s/cinnamon-sugar), United States: A simple blend of ground cinnamon and granulated sugar used to sweeten and spice desserts.
- [Shito](https://everymasala.com/s/shito), Ghana: A dark, spicy sauce made from fried fish and peppers, central to Ghanaian cooking.
- [Bamboo salt](https://everymasala.com/s/bamboo-salt), South Korea: Sea salt baked nine times in bamboo stems and pine fire, a Korean condiment and traditional remedy.
- [New Mexico chile](https://everymasala.com/s/new-mexico-chile), United States: A cultivar group of Capsicum annuum from New Mexico, valued for its smoky flavor and range of heat levels.
- [Fresno chile](https://everymasala.com/s/fresno-chile), United States: A medium-sized Capsicum annuum cultivar with a conical shape and bright red skin.
- [Cascabel chili](https://everymasala.com/s/cascabel-chili), Mexico: A dried Mexican pepper with loose seeds that rattle like a bell
- [Siling haba](https://everymasala.com/s/siling-haba), Philippines: A long, bright green chili from the Philippines, prized for moderate heat in sour and savory stews.
- [Korean brining salt](https://everymasala.com/s/korean-brining-salt), South Korea: A coarse, minimally processed salt used for fermenting kimchi in Korea.
- [Idli podi](https://everymasala.com/s/idli-podi), India: A coarse South Indian spice mix of roasted lentils and chillies, served with oil or ghee.
- [Vadouvan](https://everymasala.com/s/vadouvan), India: A French-Indian spice blend combining dried aromatics with ground seeds
- [Urfa biber](https://everymasala.com/s/urfa-biber), Turkey: A sun-dried and night-wrapped chili from Turkey with a smoky, raisin-like taste.
- [Alligator pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/alligator-pepper), Nigeria: The seed pods of West African ginger plants, named for the bumpy texture of their inner kernels.
- [Qâlat daqqa](https://everymasala.com/s/qalat-daqqa), Tunisia: A Tunisian blend of five warm spices used to season meats and vegetables
- [Ají dulce](https://everymasala.com/s/aji-dulce), Venezuela: A mild, sweet perennial pepper from the Caribbean and Latin America, used as a seasoning base.
- [Bishop's crown](https://everymasala.com/s/bishop-s-crown), Brazil: A wrinkled, three-sided Capsicum baccatum cultivar with mild heat and a sweet flavor.
- [Ají panca](https://everymasala.com/s/aji-panca), Peru: A mild, fruity Peruvian chili used for its deep red color and sun-dried flavor.
- [Mugwort](https://everymasala.com/s/mugwort), Japan: Aromatic leaves from the Artemisia genus used in Asian cuisine and traditional medicine.
- [Jimbu](https://everymasala.com/s/jimbu), Nepal: A dried wild onion herb from the Himalayas, used to season lentils and meat.
- [Montreal steak seasoning](https://everymasala.com/s/montreal-steak-seasoning), Canada: A dry rub of garlic, pepper, and dill for grilling meat, born in Montreal delis.
- [Red Sulmona Garlic](https://everymasala.com/s/red-sulmona-garlic), Italy: A traditional garlic cultivar from the Abruzzo region of Italy, grown on the Sulmona plateau.
- [Er jing tiao](https://everymasala.com/s/er-jing-tiao), China: A fragrant Chinese chili cultivar prized for its deep hue and medium heat
- [Bay Laurel](https://everymasala.com/s/laurus-nobilis), Turkey: The dried leaf of a Mediterranean evergreen, used to infuse slow-cooked dishes with herbal depth.
- [Epazote](https://everymasala.com/s/dysphania-ambrosioides), Mexico: A pungent leafy herb from the Americas, traditionally used to flavor beans and stews.
- [Chinese cassia](https://everymasala.com/s/cinnamomum-cassia), China: The thick-barked spice tree of southern China, yielding a bold and sweet bark used in cooking and medicine.
- [Clove](https://everymasala.com/s/clove), Indonesia: The dried flower bud of a tropical tree, prized for its intense warmth and numbing bite.
- [Pápalo](https://everymasala.com/s/porophyllum-ruderale), Mexico: A pungent herb from central Mexico to the Andes, used fresh in salsas and tacos.
- [Ashanti pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/piper-guineense), Nigeria: The dried fruit of a climbing vine, used for its fresh, herbaceous heat in West African stews.
- [Black mustard](https://everymasala.com/s/rhamphospermum-nigrum), Algeria: The dark seeds of an annual plant, used whole in oil or ground into a sharp paste.
- [Húng lìu](https://everymasala.com/s/hung-liu), Vietnam: A Vietnamese spice blend of cinnamon, star anise, and clove for roasted meats
- [Indian costus](https://everymasala.com/s/dolomiaea-costus), India: The dried root of a Himalayan thistle, used for centuries in perfumes and traditional remedies.
- [Siling labuyo](https://everymasala.com/s/siling-labuyo), Philippines: The tiny, erect-fruited wild chili of the Philippines, known for intense heat.
- [Indonesian cinnamon](https://everymasala.com/s/cinnamomum-burmanni), Indonesia: A strong, affordable bark from Sumatra used as a common spice and oil source.
- [Pandan](https://everymasala.com/s/pandanus-amaryllifolius), Indonesia: The fragrant leaf of a sterile screwpine, used to scent rice and desserts across Asia.
- [Piper chaba](https://everymasala.com/s/piper-chaba), Bangladesh: A creeping vine from South and Southeast Asia whose stems and roots are used as a pungent spice.
- [Long pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/long-pepper), India: The dried fruit spike of a climbing vine, once the world's most prized spice.
- [White mustard](https://everymasala.com/s/white-mustard), Greece: The beige seeds of a Mediterranean annual, ground into mild yellow condiments.
- [Black cumin](https://everymasala.com/s/nigella-sativa), Turkey: The tiny black seed of a wild annual flower, used across the Middle East and South Asia.
- [Turmeric](https://everymasala.com/s/turmeric), India: The dried rhizome of a tropical ginger relative, prized for its golden color and earthy bite.
- [Grains of paradise](https://everymasala.com/s/grains-of-paradise), Guinea: The pungent, citrus-tinged seeds of a West African ginger relative.
- [Black cardamom](https://everymasala.com/s/black-cardamom), Nepal: The dried pod of a Zingiberaceae herb, prized for its smoky, camphor-like flavour in savoury cooking.
- [Caper](https://everymasala.com/s/caper), Spain: The pickled flower buds of a drought-tolerant Mediterranean shrub.
- [Lemon Drop pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/lemon-drop-pepper), Peru: A bright yellow, citrus-flavored chilli from Peru's highlands.
- [Black Pearl pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/black-pearl-pepper), United States: A dark-leaved ornamental chili cultivar with a citrusy heat
- [Chimayó pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/chimayo-pepper), United States: A prized New Mexico chile cultivar known for its sweet, smoky flavor and twisted dried pods.
- [Fish pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/fish-pepper), United States: A variegated heirloom chili from the Chesapeake Bay, prized for its color-changing fruit and crab dishes.
- [Sandia pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/sandia-pepper), United States: A New Mexico-developed Capsicum annuum cultivar used for green and red dishes.
- [Cherry pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/cherry-pepper), Hungary: A small Capsicum annuum cultivar from Hungary, used for paprika and preserves.
- [Culantro](https://everymasala.com/s/eryngium-foetidum), Mexico: A tropical herb with serrated leaves, offering a deep and pungent coriander flavour.
- [Romenay pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/romenay-pepper), France: A compact, mild French chili cultivated in the historical province of Bresse.
- [Big Jim pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/big-jim-pepper), United States: A large, mild New Mexico chile cultivar developed in the United States for green roasting.
- [Wasabi](https://everymasala.com/s/wasabi), Japan: The pungent rhizome of a stream-side plant, grated fresh for sushi.
- [Horseradish](https://everymasala.com/s/horseradish), Hungary: A pungent root vegetable from Southeastern Europe used as a spicy condiment.
- [Galangal](https://everymasala.com/s/galangal), Indonesia: The pungent rhizome of the ginger family, essential to Southeast Asian soups and pastes.
- [Anise](https://everymasala.com/s/anise), Egypt: The sweet, licorice-flavored seed of an annual herb from the Mediterranean basin.
- [Star anise](https://everymasala.com/s/illicium-verum), China: The reddish-brown star-shaped fruit of a Chinese evergreen tree, used for its licorice-like flavor.
- [Hoja santa](https://everymasala.com/s/piper-auritum), Mexico: The large, heart-shaped leaf of a Mexican pepper plant, used to wrap and flavor food.
- [Zedoary](https://everymasala.com/s/curcuma-zedoaria), India: A bitter rhizome from the ginger family, once common in Austronesian kitchens.
- [Saigon cinnamon](https://everymasala.com/s/saigon-cinnamon), Vietnam: A potent bark from central Vietnam with a complex aroma and high coumarin content.
- [Lesser galangal](https://everymasala.com/s/alpinia-officinarum), China: An aromatic Asian rhizome with orange flesh and a sweet, gentle spice
- [Sansho](https://everymasala.com/s/zanthoxylum-piperitum), Japan: The dried berries and young leaves of a spiny Japanese shrub, prized for their numbing citrus heat.
- [Sha ren](https://everymasala.com/s/wurfbainia-villosa), China: The dried fruit of a ginger-family plant, used in Chinese cooking and medicine
- [Blue fenugreek](https://everymasala.com/s/trigonella-caerulea), Georgia: The blue-flowered annual herb that seasons Georgian stews and Swiss cheese
- [Sumac](https://everymasala.com/s/sumac), Syria: A tart, crimson spice made from ground berries of the Rhus coriaria shrub.
- [Cumin](https://everymasala.com/s/cumin), India: The dried seed of a small parsley-family herb, used whole or ground in many world cuisines.
- [Xiao Mi La Pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/xiao-mi-la-pepper), China: A wild Capsicum frutescens cultivar from southern China, prized for intense heat in spicy regional dishes.
- [Byadagi chilli](https://everymasala.com/s/byadagi-chilli), India: A deep red, mild cultivar from Karnataka prized for its colour and oleoresin.
- [Harmal chilli](https://everymasala.com/s/harmal-chilli), India: A smooth red cultivar from Goa, known for its intense heat and role in traditional Goan cooking.
- [Ramanathapuram Mundu chilli](https://everymasala.com/s/ramanathapuram-mundu-chilli), India: A round, mild red chilli from Tamil Nadu with a GI tag.
- [Mizo chilli](https://everymasala.com/s/mizo-chilli), India: A pungent Capsicum frutescens cultivar from Mizoram, India, holding a Geographical Indication tag.
- [Sirarakhong Hathei chilli](https://everymasala.com/s/sirarakhong-hathei-chilli), India: A long, bitter chilli from Manipur, India, protected by a geographical indication tag.
- [Banaras Lal Bharwamirch](https://everymasala.com/s/banaras-lal-bharwamirch), India: A thick-skinned chilli from Uttar Pradesh, prized for making traditional stuffed pickles.
- [Nandurbar Mirchi](https://everymasala.com/s/nandurbar-mirchi), India: A GI-tagged chilli cultivar from the Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, India.
- [Char magaz](https://everymasala.com/s/char-magaz), India: A blend of four melon seeds used to thicken and enrich dishes in South Asia
- [Rocoto](https://everymasala.com/s/capsicum-pubescens), Peru: A hairy-leaved Andean pepper with black seeds and a distinct cucumber aroma.
- [Capsicum annuum](https://everymasala.com/s/capsicum-annuum), Mexico: A flowering plant producing berries of many colors and heat levels, from sweet bell peppers to fiery chilies.
- [Capsicum baccatum](https://everymasala.com/s/capsicum-baccatum), Peru: A domesticated Andean chili with fruit that hangs down, known for its bright orange skin and warm heat.
- [Piquillo pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/piquillo-pepper), Spain: A sweet, mild red chili cultivar from Northern Spain, prized for its thick flesh and gentle heat.
- [Guntur Sannam](https://everymasala.com/s/guntur-sannam), India: A long, thick-skinned red chilli from Andhra Pradesh known for its heat and colour.
- [Hainan yellow lantern chili](https://everymasala.com/s/hainan-yellow-lantern-chili), China: A bright yellow Capsicum chinense cultivar from Hainan Island known for its intense heat and high yield.
- [Cheongyang chili pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/cheongyang-chili-pepper), South Korea: A medium-sized Korean cultivar of Capsicum annuum with 10,000 Scoville heat units.
- [Florina pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/florina-pepper), Greece: A sweet, horn-shaped red pepper from northern Greece with Protected Designation of Origin status.
- [Pink peppercorn](https://everymasala.com/s/schinus-molle), Peru: The dried pink drupes of the Schinus molle tree, sold as a peppery alternative to black pepper.
- [Capsicum flexuosum](https://everymasala.com/s/capsicum-flexuosum), Brazil: A tiny, mildly pungent wild chili native to southern Brazil.
- [Ají amarillo](https://everymasala.com/s/aji-amarillo), Peru: A golden-orange Peruvian chili with fruity notes and moderate heat
- [Capsicum parvifolium](https://everymasala.com/s/capsicum-parvifolium), Brazil: A small-leaved wild chili shrub from northern South America
- [Chives](https://everymasala.com/s/chives), Russia: The hollow leaves and purple flowers of a widespread perennial herb in the onion family.
- [Shiso](https://everymasala.com/s/shiso), China: A mint-family herb with serrated leaves, used fresh or pickled across East Asia.
- [Galbanum](https://everymasala.com/s/galbanum), Iran: A bitter Persian gum resin used in ancient incense and modern green perfumes
- [Corsican mint](https://everymasala.com/s/mentha-requienii), France: A tiny creeping mint from the Mediterranean islands, known for its strong peppermint scent and low-growing habit.
- [Common thyme](https://everymasala.com/s/thymus-vulgaris), Italy: A woody Mediterranean herb with small grey-green leaves and a sharp, spicy-sweet flavour.
- [Indian bay leaf](https://everymasala.com/s/cinnamomum-tamala), India: The large, veined leaf of a Himalayan tree, used for its warm cassia scent in South Asian cooking.
- [Mrs. Burns' Lemon Basil](https://everymasala.com/s/mrs-burns-lemon-basil), United States: An heirloom sweet basil cultivar from New Mexico with intense lemon flavor and large leaves.
- [Ailanthus-like prickly ash](https://everymasala.com/s/zanthoxylum-ailanthoides), China: A wild Asian prickly ash with piquant berries and edible young leaves
- [Black mint](https://everymasala.com/s/tagetes-minuta), Peru: A South American marigold herb used as a paste or dried seasoning in Andean cooking
- [Serrano pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/serrano-pepper), Mexico: A hot Mexican chili from mountain regions, used fresh in salsas and sauces.
- [Mexican oregano](https://everymasala.com/s/lippia-graveolens), Mexico: A fragrant shrub from the Americas, its leaves provide a thyme-like herbal note distinct from Mediterranean oregano.
- [Calabash nutmeg](https://everymasala.com/s/monodora-myristica), Guinea-Bissau: The dried seed of a West African tree, used as a local substitute for nutmeg.
- [Paprika Tap de Cortí](https://everymasala.com/s/paprika-tap-de-corti), Spain: A sweet, sun-dried ground pepper from the Balearic Islands, prized for its deep red colour and antioxidant properties.
- [Creole mustard](https://everymasala.com/s/creole-mustard), United States: A grainy paste of brown mustard seeds, vinegar, and horseradish from Louisiana.
- [Lolot pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/piper-sarmentosum), Vietnam: The heart-shaped leaf of a creeping vine, used to wrap and flavor grilled meats in Southeast Asia.
- [Peppermint](https://everymasala.com/s/peppermint), Morocco: A hybrid mint with a sharp cooling taste, used in teas, oils, and flavourings.
- [Rosemary](https://everymasala.com/s/rosemary), Portugal: A fragrant Mediterranean shrub with needle-like leaves used for seasoning and remembrance
- [Common sage](https://everymasala.com/s/salvia-officinalis), Italy: The gray-green leaves of a Mediterranean perennial used in European roasts and traditional remedies.
- [Garden cress](https://everymasala.com/s/garden-cress), India: A fast-growing edible herb with peppery leaves and seeds used in salads and traditional medicine.
- [Garlic chives](https://everymasala.com/s/allium-tuberosum), China: A flat-leaved Allium with a garlic scent, used across Asia as a herb and vegetable.
- [Vietnamese coriander](https://everymasala.com/s/persicaria-odorata), Cambodia: The fresh leaves of a tropical herb used in Southeast Asian soups and salads
- [Lemon basil](https://everymasala.com/s/lemon-basil), Laos: A hybrid herb with a bright citrus scent, used across Southeast Asia and Africa.
- [Rice paddy herb](https://everymasala.com/s/limnophila-aromatica), Vietnam: A tropical aquatic herb with lemon-cumin notes, native to Southeast Asian rice fields.
- [Korean mint](https://everymasala.com/s/agastache-rugosa), South Korea: An anise-scented Asian mint leaf used in Korean stews and herbal traditions
- [Lemongrass](https://everymasala.com/s/cymbopogon-citratus), India: A tropical grass with citrus-scented stalks used in Asian soups and herbal teas
- [Black turmeric](https://everymasala.com/s/curcuma-caesia), India: A blue-skinned rhizome from northeast India, boiled and dried for its camphor scent.
- [Kesum](https://everymasala.com/s/persicaria-minor), Malaysia: An aromatic herb from Southeast Asia, used fresh in salads and soups.
- [Roselle](https://everymasala.com/s/roselle), China: The deep red calyx of a hibiscus plant, steeped into a tart drink or cooked as a leafy green.
- [Whorled savory](https://everymasala.com/s/satureja-thymbra), Libya: A pungent Mediterranean shrub with dark leaves and pink flowers, used in ancient cooking and modern herbal teas.
- [Capsicum frutescens](https://everymasala.com/s/capsicum-frutescens), Mexico: A small, wild chili species with erect berries, native to the Americas and widely grown in tropical regions.
- [Coriander](https://everymasala.com/s/coriander), Israel: The leaves and dried seeds of an annual Mediterranean herb used in cuisines worldwide.
- [Friggitello](https://everymasala.com/s/friggitello), Italy: A mild sweet Italian chilli often pickled, known for its complex flavour and slight heat.
- [Naga Mircha](https://everymasala.com/s/naga-mircha), India: A wrinkled red chilli from Nagaland with extreme heat and a fruity aroma.
- [Sesame](https://everymasala.com/s/sesame), India: The drought-hardy seed of a flowering plant, prized for its oil and nutty taste.
- [Cubeb](https://everymasala.com/s/piper-cubeba), Indonesia: The dried fruit of a climbing vine, known for its long tail and sharp taste.
- [Black pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/black-pepper), India: The dried fruit of a climbing vine, the world's most traded spice.
- [Tolu balsam](https://everymasala.com/s/tolu-balsam), Colombia: A South American tree resin prized for its warm scent and historical medicinal role.
- [Bafat](https://everymasala.com/s/bafat), India: A coastal Indian spice blend for pork stews and meat dishes
- [Sel gris](https://everymasala.com/s/sel-gris), France: A coarse, moist sea salt harvested from the bottom of French salt pans.
- [Ginger](https://everymasala.com/s/ginger-q35625), Indonesia: The pungent rhizome of a flowering perennial, one of the world's most traded spices.
- [Tamarind](https://everymasala.com/s/tamarind), Sudan: The sweet and sour pulp of a tropical tree pod used in sauces and drinks.
- [Kaffir lime](https://everymasala.com/s/kaffir-lime), Thailand: The bumpy-skinned citrus fruit and double-leafed shrub of Southeast Asia
- [Fenugreek](https://everymasala.com/s/fenugreek), India: The cuboid seed of an annual legume, prized for its bitter warmth and maple aroma.
- [Canella](https://everymasala.com/s/canella), Jamaica: The aromatic inner bark of a Caribbean tree, often called white cinnamon.
- [Korarima](https://everymasala.com/s/aframomum-corrorima), Ethiopia: The dried seeds of a wild ginger relative, essential to Ethiopian and Eritrean cooking.
- [Timur](https://everymasala.com/s/zanthoxylum-armatum), Nepal: The dried fruit of a Himalayan shrub, prized for its citrus aroma and numbing tingle.
- [Andaliman](https://everymasala.com/s/zanthoxylum-acanthopodium), Indonesia: A citrus-scented, tongue-numbing seed husk related to Sichuan pepper
- [Zanthoxylum bungeanum](https://everymasala.com/s/zanthoxylum-bungeanum), China: A shrub from China that produces the numbing peppercorns of Sichuan cuisine.
- [Almapaprika](https://everymasala.com/s/almapaprika), Hungary: A thick-fleshed Hungarian sweet pepper variety used for pickling and traditional dishes.
- [Wild cinnamon](https://everymasala.com/s/cinnamomum-malabatrum), India: The aromatic leaves and bark of a Western Ghats tree, once known as malabathrum.
- [Edayur chilli](https://everymasala.com/s/edayur-chilli), India: A local Kerala cultivar with a GI tag, used for sun-dried curd chillies.
- [Almora Lakhori Mirchi](https://everymasala.com/s/almora-lakhori-mirchi), India: A wrinkled yellow chilli from the Kumaon hills of India, known for intense heat and GI protection.
- [Svan salt](https://everymasala.com/s/svan-salt), Georgia: A moist, aromatic spice blend from the Georgian mountains, combining herbs with salt.
- [Pimiento](https://everymasala.com/s/pimiento), Jamaica: A sweet, heart-shaped red chili pepper used for stuffing olives and making cheese spreads.
- [Naga Morich](https://everymasala.com/s/naga-morich), India: A superhot chili cultivar from Northeast India and Bangladesh, known for its blistering heat and ribbed skin.
- [Datil pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/datil-pepper), United States: A very hot, sweet-sour cultivar of Capsicum chinense grown mainly in Florida
- [Guajillo chili](https://everymasala.com/s/guajillo-chili), Mexico: A dried Mexican pepper with a sweet, fruity flavor and mild heat.
- [Peter pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/peter-pepper), United States: A rare heirloom chili with a distinctive wrinkled shape and moderate heat.
- [Chile de árbol](https://everymasala.com/s/chile-de-arbol), Mexico: A small, fiery Mexican chili pepper known for its grassy heat and bright red dried pods.
- [Dundicut](https://everymasala.com/s/dundicut), Pakistan: A small, round, dark red chili cultivar from South Asia with moderate heat.
- [Trinidad Scorpion Butch T](https://everymasala.com/s/trinidad-scorpion-butch-t-pepper), United States: A hybrid Capsicum chinense pepper that held the Guinness World Record for heat in 2011.
- [Trinidad Moruga Scorpion](https://everymasala.com/s/trinidad-moruga-scorpion), Trinidad and Tobago: A superhot Capsicum chinense cultivar from Trinidad known for its intense, lingering heat and sweet fruit notes.
- [Madame Jeanette](https://everymasala.com/s/madame-jeanette), Suriname: A fruity, very hot chili cultivar from Suriname with a reddish-yellow skin.
- [Capsicum chacoense](https://everymasala.com/s/capsicum-chacoense), Argentina: A wild South American chilli known for its intense heat and compact shrub form.
- [Capsicum cardenasii](https://everymasala.com/s/capsicum-cardenasii), Peru: A wild Andean chilli with white and purple flowers, known as ulupica.
- [Capsicum recurvatum](https://everymasala.com/s/capsicum-recurvatum), Brazil: A wild nightshade chili that thrives in the humid forests of Brazil.
- [Mountain pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/litsea-cubeba), Taiwan: A citrusy tree fruit prized as a seasoning across Taiwan's indigenous cooking
- [Torch ginger](https://everymasala.com/s/etlingera-elatior), Indonesia: The edible pink flower bud of a rhizomatous plant, used for sourness in Southeast Asian cooking.
- [Myoga](https://everymasala.com/s/myoga), Japan: The edible flower buds and shoots of a woodland ginger native to East Asia.
- [Kencur](https://everymasala.com/s/kaempferia-galanga), Indonesia: A stemless ginger-family rhizome with a peppery, camphorous bite
- [Houttuynia](https://everymasala.com/s/houttuynia-cordata), Vietnam: A heart-shaped herb with a sharp fishy taste used in salads and teas across Asia.
- [Sassafras](https://everymasala.com/s/sassafras), United States: An aromatic tree of North America and East Asia, famed for filé powder and root tea
- [Prekese](https://everymasala.com/s/tetrapleura-tetraptera), Ghana: The scented pod of a West African tree, used to perfume soups.
- [Mustard](https://everymasala.com/s/mustard-plant), India: The seed of a Brassicaceae plant used to make pungent condiments and oil
- [Chenpi](https://everymasala.com/s/chenpi), China: Sun-dried mandarin orange peel aged for use in Chinese cooking and medicine
- [Dorrigo pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/tasmannia-stipitata), Australia: The wild-harvested berry and leaf of an Australian shrub, known for its peppery heat.
- [Kashmiri red chilli](https://everymasala.com/s/kashmiri-red-chilli), India: A mild Capsicum annuum cultivar prized for its deep red colour and low heat.
- [Mountain pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/tasmannia-lanceolata), Australia: The dried berry of an Australian shrub, used as a peppery condiment and wasabi substitute.
- [Syrian oregano](https://everymasala.com/s/origanum-syriacum), Palestine: The aromatic herb native to the Levant, essential for making za'atar.
- [Black pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/peppercorn), India: The dried fruit of a climbing vine, the world's most traded spice.
- [Tabasco pepper](https://everymasala.com/s/tabasco-pepper), Mexico: A hot chili cultivar from Mexico, prized for its bright red fruit and role in famous sauces.
- [Ginger](https://everymasala.com/s/ginger), India: The pungent rhizome of a flowering plant, widely used as a spice and folk medicine.
- [Solo garlic](https://everymasala.com/s/solo-garlic), China: A single-clove bulb grown without cold treatment, milder than standard garlic.
- [Caraway](https://everymasala.com/s/caraway-seed), Austria: The crescent-shaped fruit of a carrot-family plant, used to flavour rye bread and spirits.
- [Kōrēgusu](https://everymasala.com/s/koregusu), Japan: A Ryukyuan chili sauce made by soaking hot peppers in Awamori rice spirit.
- [Balsam of Peru](https://everymasala.com/s/balsam-of-peru), El Salvador: A dark, sweet resin from a Central American tree, used for flavoring and fragrance.
- [Jalapeño](https://everymasala.com/s/tam-mild-jalapeno), Mexico: A medium-sized Capsicum annuum cultivar from Mexico known for its green pods and moderate heat.
- [Mustard seed](https://everymasala.com/s/mustard-powder), India: Tiny seeds from three Brassica plants that create pungent condiments and cooking oil.
- [Hops](https://everymasala.com/s/hops), Germany: The green female flower cones of a climbing vine, used to bitter and flavour beer.