Hari's Guide to Indian Herbs, Spices & Oils

From learning to cook with my mother to the heady heights of a Michelin starred kitchen, I have picked up a few tips that I want to share with you.

This is my Indian Herbs, Spices & Oils guide, which I hope you will find useful. It’s full of information about the vital ingredients that are key to Indian cooking and will show you how to use them, where they come from, what they add to your food and the potential health benefits they offer.

From years of teaching, I have found that it’s always the herbs and spices that put people off cooking Indian food.  This guide is an opportunity for me to give you the confidence to cook great Indian dishes from scratch.

For me, what makes Indian food spectacular are the layers of spicing and depth of flavour to each dish. I urge you to be delicate with spices and herbs, and use them in the correct way to get those perfect flavour combinations.

All of this is achievable when you use spices at the correct stages when cooking, with love and precision. Choosing the right oil is also important; from a humble salad or simply when frying — it’s important to think about the oil and what it will offer to your dish.

Ultimately, this guide will help to explain a holistic approach Indian cooking as well as how to cook with different oils, spices and herbs.