Hawayej Spice Blend
Learn to make this delicious and healthful Yemenite spice blend for meats, soups and stews.
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 5 min
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 2 tablespoons cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ground turmeric
- 1 1/2 tablespoons black peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons cardamom seeds removed from their pods (about 30 pods)
- 6 whole cloves (or 1/4 tsp ground cloves)
Instructions
- 1
Lightly toast the cumin, caraway and coriander seeds in a skillet over medium heat for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Be careful not to let them burn!
- 2
Pour the toasted seeds into a cool bowl. Place the toasted cumin, caraway and coriander seeds in a coffee or spice grinder along with the turmeric, peppercorns, cardamom seeds and cloves.
- 3
Pulse the grinder in long, slow pulses to grind the seeds into a powdery spice mix, stirring inside the grinder periodically to evenly distribute the seeds. It may take a few minutes for the spices to reach the desired powdery texture. Store spice blend in an airtight container in a cool, dry pantry.
- 4
Toasting and grinding the whole spices provides a fresher flavor than using pre-ground spices. However, if you already have ground spices and you don't want to spend more money on whole spices, you may substitute 1/3 the amount of ground spice to 1 whole seed spice. If, for instance, you would like to use ground cumin, you may substitute 2 tsp ground cumin for 2 tbsp cumin seeds.