Using spices

Ready to spice up your life? Stocking up on spices can help you turn your pantry into your medicine cabinet. Disease-fighting, immunity-building, capable of lowering blood-sugar levels, effective as painkillers and for weight-loss, those jars lurking in your cupboards were considered more valuable than gold during the Roman Empire. Such are their therapeutic powers that they are said to have been the cause for numerous invasions of India over the centuries.

The fun part is experimenting with spices: adding a little spice to everything – from the usual curries, soups and stir-fries to sweets, hot drinks and cakes. I refer to fresh herbs and spices throughout, but I also include some dried herbs, which are great to fall back on. To substitute dried herbs for fresh, the general rule is that 1 teaspoon of dried is equal to 3 teaspoons of finely chopped fresh herbs.