A Glug of Oil

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Panch Phoran Recipe

Also known as Panch Phoron 

A Bengali spice mix made from whole spices is used as a base flavour in many Indian dishes.

Read on to find out how to make Indian 5 spice - not to be confused with Chinese 5 spice as that is totally different.

Panch Phoran spice mix in a wooden bowl
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My love of cooking and experimenting in the kitchen means I have more spices in my cupboard than you can shake a stick at! 😂

So if you don't have them already Indian five spice ingredients are available in any good supermarket.

If you like cooking Indian food then it's so worth having a small amount of this ready-made in your store cupboard, just keep it in an airtight food storage container.

Five spice ingredients

  • Fenugreek seeds
  • Nigella seeds (black onion seeds)
  • Fennel seeds
  • Cumin seeds
  • Black Mustard seeds

Fenugreek seeds

Panch Phoran is usually made from a mixture of equal amounts of each spice.

I chose to use less fenugreek because of its bitter taste so to make the Indian five-spice mix I used half of the amount you should.

Nigella seeds

To save you from hunting high and low Nigella (kalonji) seeds are often called black onion seeds here in the UK despite them being unconnected to the onion - hey ho, that's the UK for you!

You can buy Nigella seeds on Amazon but they are also found in Tesco and any other good supermarket.

How to use Indian five spice

The spices are kept whole and not ground. 

Heat a little oil in a pan add a tablespoon of panch phoran and fry for just a minute or so, stirring so they don't burn.

Do this before adding the usual onion, ginger and chilli and continuing with your recipe.

These 5 spices will make all the difference to your next Indian curry recipe.

Panch phoron.


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panch phoran recipe, how to make panch phoran, Indian five spice recipe, 5 spice ingredients
Indian, spices
Indian
Yield: 4½ tablespoons
Author: Jan Bennett
Panch Phoran (panch phoron) Recipe

Panch Phoran (panch phoron) Recipe

If you like cooking Indian food then it's so worth having a small amount of this ready-made in your store cupboard.
Prep time: 2 MinTotal time: 2 Min

Ingredients

Whole seeds - not ground
  • ½ tablespoon fenugreek seeds
  • 1 tablespoon nigella seeds (black onion seeds)
  • 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
  • 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
  • 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds

Instructions

  1. Mix the whole spices and store them in an airtight container. That's it, job done!

Notes

How to use Indian Five-Spice

The spices are kept whole and not ground. When you make your next Indian curry, heat a little oil in a pan and using a tablespoon of panch phoran and fry for just a minute or so, stirring so they don't burn, before adding the usual onion, ginger and chilli and continuing with your recipe.

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3 comments

  1. Thank you for this! Sounds amazing and so helpful to know how to make :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Such an easy one to make but goes with so many things. I like it sprinkled over beans on toast!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Not heard of this spice blend before but pleased to see I have everything in the spice box to make some :-)

    ReplyDelete

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Cheers
Jan