Indian Spices: Cumin, Turmeric, Cardamom, Mustard Seed, Chiles and the Rest of the Masala Box

Indian cooking draws on a large spice box, and much of the world’s supply of several spices is grown in India. This page covers the spices that do the most work in Indian kitchens, how they are used, and what the sources say about each, with links to our full profiles.

At a glance

How Indian cooks use whole spices: tempering

A defining technique is frying whole spices in hot fat. Katzer writes that almost every North Indian curry or braising dish starts with spices fried in fat, often with onion, and that cumin seeds are fried or toasted before use.² Frying whole mustard seeds in fat is, in his words, a typical South Indian technique; mustard seeds are always fried in fat or dry-toasted before use, and after frying they are no longer pungent but nutty and smoky.⁷ A Saveur rasam recipe shows the method: mustard, cumin and fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and dried chiles cooked in fat until the seeds pop.¹⁴ In Bengal, the five-seed blend panch phoron is used the same way; Bong Eats says the name literally means five spices, used in tempering.¹⁵ Asafoetida resin, Katzer says, must be fried quickly in hot oil.¹⁶

What India grows

India’s Spices Board publishes area and production by spice. Its 2024-25 final figures (subject to revision) include:¹⁰

These are national totals, not shares of world production; no comparable world figures were found for most of them.

Cumin

Cumin is the dried fruit of Cuminum cyminum. Kew gives its native range as Iraq to Afghanistan, with India in its introduced range.¹ PROSEA describes its flavor as strong, warm, pungent and persistent.¹⁷ Britannica calls it an essential ingredient in many mixed spices, chutneys, and chili and curry powders.¹⁸ Because the seeds are usually fried or toasted first,² whole cumin and ground cumin play different roles. See cumin, cumin seeds vs. ground cumin, coriander vs. cumin and too much cumin.

Coriander seed

Coriander seed comes from Coriandrum sativum, native from the eastern Mediterranean to western Pakistan.³ One review describes its flavor as mild, sweet, warm and aromatic.¹⁹ It is among the oldest spices on record; PROSEA cites remains dated to 6000 BC found in Israel, and says curry powder can contain up to 40% coriander.⁴ See coriander, cooking with coriander and coriander substitutes.

Turmeric

Turmeric is the rhizome of Curcuma longa, a plant in the ginger family that Kew treats as a cultigen from southwest India.⁵²⁰ It is not just a coloring: one reference chapter describes a bitter, slightly acrid yet sweet taste, and says turmeric gives curry its distinctive yellow color and flavor.⁶ Health claims for turmeric are common, but the NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health says there is not enough evidence to conclude that turmeric or curcumin helps any health condition.²⁰ Lead is a documented problem: a study of 503 samples from eastern India found 30% above India’s lead limit of 10 µg/g.²¹ See turmeric, cooking with turmeric and turmeric vs. curry powder.

Mustard seeds

Indian cooking uses the dark mustard seeds: black (Brassica nigra) and the brown Indian mustard (B. juncea). Katzer documents black mustard in South Indian tempering and in Bengal’s panch phoron, and says black mustard is slightly more pungent than brown.⁷ Britannica says white mustard seeds, the kind used for mild Western yellow mustard, are less intensely flavored than brown.²² See black mustard seeds, brown mustard seeds, yellow vs. black mustard seeds and panch phoran.

Green cardamom

Green cardamom is the fruit of Elettaria cardamomum, native to southwest India,⁸ where it grows wild in the evergreen forests of the Western Ghats.⁹ The fruits are picked by hand while still green, one by one, because they ripen irregularly.⁹ Its oil is mostly 1,8-cineole (20 to 60%) and α-terpinyl acetate (20 to 53%);⁹ 1,8-cineole has a camphor-like odor,²³ which accounts for the eucalyptus-like edge many cooks notice. PROSEA calls cardamom an important ingredient of curries and spiced rice, vegetable and meat dishes, and notes its use in coffee and tea.⁹ See cardamom, black vs. green cardamom and cardamom pods vs. seeds.

Chiles

India grows more chile than any other spice except garlic by tonnage in the Spices Board figures above.¹⁰ The McCormick Science Institute lists Indian cooking among the uses of red pepper.²⁴ Heat varies enormously by type. At the extreme is Bhut Jolokia, a chile from Assam that a 2007 HortScience study measured at 1,001,304 Scoville heat units; it belongs to Capsicum chinense.²⁵ Kashmiri chile is widely described as mild and deeply red, valued for color more than heat; no measured source for that was found, so treat it as common description. See cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes and paprika vs. cayenne.

Cinnamon

The cinnamon used in India may be true (Ceylon) cinnamon or cassia; the sources do not say which dominates. Ceylon cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) is native to Sri Lanka,²⁶ and PROSEA says it is also grown on a smaller scale in southern India.²⁷ NCCIH notes that cassia is the type most often sold in North America.²⁸ CBI calls cinnamon a key ingredient in Indian dishes such as garam masala and masala chai.¹¹ See cinnamon, Ceylon cinnamon and Ceylon vs. cassia cinnamon.

Saffron

Saffron is the dried stigmas of Crocus sativus, three per flower, and Britannica still calls it the most expensive spice in the world; it takes about 75,000 blossoms to make a pound.¹² Its coloring matter is crocin, and Britannica describes a strong aroma and bitter taste.¹² India is a minor producer next to Iran; a 2022 American Herbal Products Association article puts India’s production at about 22 tonnes.²⁹ See saffron, why saffron is so expensive and saffron vs. turmeric.

Blends and the rest of the box

Garam masala has no single recipe. Great British Chefs lists cloves, bay leaf, fennel, cinnamon and cardamom among the spices commonly used,³⁰ while Madhur Jaffrey’s version in Saveur leads with a quarter cup of cardamom seeds.³¹ See garam masala, garam masala vs. curry powder and chaat masala.

Other spices that matter:

• Curry leaves, which Britannica says are used extensively in Indian cuisine,³² are fried in hot oil until crisp and translucent.¹³ See curry leaves.
• Asafoetida (hing) is, per Katzer, even more popular in the Dravidian South.¹⁶ See asafoetida.
• Fenugreek is a characteristic ingredient in some curries and chutneys.³³ See fenugreek.
• Nutmeg, cloves and mace are grown in India in small quantities (table above).¹⁰ See nutmeg, cloves and mace.

Related pages

• Curry powder and Madras curry powder
• Tandoori masala and tikka masala
• The master list of herbs and spices