Cooking powdered spices

Spices, along with any salt, are generally added once the onions, ginger and garlic are nicely browned. The spices need to be cooked for at least 3 minutes (pic 2), and up to 10 minutes for larger spice masalas (such as the mutton pepper fry,). Add a couple of tablespoonfuls of water when the spices start to stick. This will allow you to keep cooking them a little longer.