Making Freshly Ground Blends

When making blends from scratch – and it’s well worth doing so – it’s useful to bear in mind that a blend needs time to settle. As Ian Hemphill advises, it will ‘round out’ and taste less harsh after about 24 hours, in the same way that a curry improves the next day.

Always use good quality whole spices that are well within their use-by date. It’s best to grind small amounts as the flavour will deteriorate before too long. Leftover spice blends will keep for six to eight weeks if you store them in a small tightly sealed plastic bag or glass jar in the fridge or a cool place away from light.