Panch Phoran Cooking Notes

Cuisine: Indian, Bengali

Food Pairings: Vegetables, Chicken, Beef, Curries, Lentils, Stews, Fish, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Onion, Garlic, Chillies

Serving size: 5 grams

Usage: Fry in hot oil or ghee for about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Then add the rest of your ingredients. Works great with potatoes, fish, beef, tomatoes, onion, chillies.

Recipes: Panch Phoran Roasted Potatoes

Panch Phoran Technical Notes

Ingredients: Black cumin (nigella), Cumin seeds, Fenugreek seeds, Fennel seeds, Black Mustards seeds.

Also known as Padkaune Masala, Panch Puran, Panch Phoron, Panchphoran, Panch Phutana पन्चफोरन , পাঁচ ফোড়ন, 孟加拉五香

Industry Knowledge:
Panch Phoran literally means Five Spices, but is not to be confused with the entirely different Chinese Five Spice Powder. Unlike Chinese Five Spice, Panch Phoran is almost always used whole, through a common indian cooking process known as "tempering" - the spices are lightly fried in hot oil / ghee until fragrant, and then the rest of the ingredients for cooking lentils or curry are added in.

Panch Phoran typically consists of the holy grail of Indian seeds: Fenugreek, Cumin, Black Cumin (also known as kalonji, nigella sativa), Black Mustard Seeds and Fennel Seeds. Proportions vary from household to household, some use less fenugreek as it is more bitter, some use more cumin. In some parts of Bengal, a local seed similar to Ajwain, known as radhuni, is used in place of the mustard seeds. Other common substitutes include caraway seeds and basil seeds.