The next time you’re cooking, there’s a good chance that your recipe will say “one teaspoon” of an ingredient, such as a spice, like cumin. But then you look into the cabinet and realize: All I’ve got is whole cumin seeds. Do you toss half? Grind it all? Guess? Most home cook here would stop at guessing.
Beyond mere texture, there’s another reason to tell the difference between ground and whole spices: There’s also an issue of density. Because whole spice have an irregular shape, they trap air within their structure. Grinding those seeds expels that air. The result: a tightly packed powder. When swapped one-to-one, this means you’re probably pouring in almost a third too much of whatever spice it is, enough to wreck a delicate curry before its garlic has even burned. Typically, grinding up whole spice will yield only three-quarters of a teaspoon of powder from each teaspoon of whole (see chart). Why? Because the ground version touches your tongue with its full surface area, so it requires less of it. With no hard shell in the way, ground spices pack more punch by volume. Mustard and coriander are good examples here, as are other seeds and berries.
How to Measure and Store Spices
That’s not the case with cardamom: The pods themselves contain almost no edible material. So to achieve a similar level of strength than the ground powder, use many fewer pod whole. Such rationing will prevent you from unwittingly overdoing the bitter or hot until the dish reaches your mouth.
With herbs, there’s another set of rules. When water is removed by drying, it leaves behind concentrated amounts of herb’s essential oil. In general, dried herbs are about three times more potent than fresh. Therefore, for every tablespoon of chopped fresh basil that a recipe might call for, you’d use just a teaspoon of dried basil.
But not all herbs translate into good-drying material. Chive-like delicate leaves, such as chives and cilantro. Lose much of their brightness after drying. Flat and dusty, they’re often best used when fresh, added toward the end of cooking. If you only have dried, skip them. Rosemary, thyme, and oregano (to name a few) are hardy types that really shine in dried form; their woody flavors deepens instead of fading during drying.
Accurate measurement matters more than you realize. The common way most folks measure ground spices, scooping out whatever they need, then scraping off the excess with the flat side of their knife, is right. But don’t pack it in. If you press powder into the well of your measuring spoon, you’re artificially increasing its density. Without even knowing it, you may have added an extra twenty percent of spice to your dish. Instead, loosen it in the spoon, then swipe away the overflow. You’ll be consistent with each batch and can convert from tablespoons to teaspoons easily (and vice versa). This is because no matter what spice dust you’re working with, three teaspoons equals one tablespoon. This is always true.
Most pantries fail because of one thing: storage. Spice isn’t eternal. Moisture, heat and light kill flavor. When their volatile compounds have gone, they turn into colored dust that tastes of nothing. Ground spices don’t keep as long as whole ones; the protective coating of the outer shell keeps the oil trapped inside intact. Six months is all you’ve got for a jar of bulk-ground black pepper or cinnamon stored next to the stove. Store your containers in a cool, dark cupboard, not on a shelf over the oven. Can’t smell it when you unscrew the lid? Time to toss it. Your nose notices this long before your taste buds do.
And lastly: bloom your spices. To unlock fat-soluble flavors, toast whole seeds in a dry pan for about half a minute or fry ground spices in a little hot oil for a few seconds. Water alone will not release these flavors. Think of it like the difference between eating a raw onion versus a cooked one. It has a totally different flavor profile. That extra minute of toasting your coriander or cumin before throwing in your broth or tomatoes just takes the whole dish to another level. Try spending an extra minute warming up those spices before using them.
It should of been free. Your cooking will improve immediately if you start treating spices not as something you sprinkle on with a flick of the wrist but as an ingredient that deserves some prep time. Return to that jar of whole seeds. Grind them fresh. Use slightly less than you think you’ll need.