Bengali Five-Spice Mixture

Called panch phoron (panch means “five” and phoron is “flavor” or “spice”), this mixture of whole untoasted spices gets tossed into hot oil before other ingredients are added. You can add a pinch of each spice every time the mixture is called for, but it’s easy to assemble a batch of it, then keep it stored in a well-sealed jar.

There are several versions of panch phoron, because different people have different preferences. This is the easiest blend to re