You need 5 whole spices in your pantry to make a variety of authentic Indian dishes — all of which you can find in your local supermarket — look for mainstream brands like McCormick

Dear Big Apple Curry,

Love your recipes and writing.

In lots of recipes they call for the use of whole cloves, cinnamon sticks or cardamom pods. I wanted to know if I could substitute a certain amount of the spice ground, e.g. 2 teaspoons of cinnamon instead of a stick?

Do you use whole spices for a certain reason, does a dish taste different by using a whole stick of cinnamon, a whole clove or a cardamom pod instead of ground?

Thanks for all the time and effort that goes into making a website as wonderful as yours!

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Dear Reader!

Thank you for your wonderful comment, I’m so happy you’re enjoying Big Apple Curry! It’s a labor of love, and I only share recipes I’m proud of and have made many, many times. I try to make Indian cuisine as easy and as accessible as I can for the home cook.

Here are answers to your questions, I hope it helps:

Yes, you’re right, many Indian recipes include some combination of ground and whole spices, and one of the main reasons Indian cooking appears complicated is because there are certain ratios of aromatics (onion/garlic/ginger), ground spices, and whole spices that are key to making a dish really sing. The truth is, once you have a few key things in your fridge and pantry (see my 5-10-5 Rule) you can make a variety of dishes any time you like. You will often see whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, and cardamom pods because those are some of the key ingredients in India’s hallmark spice blend ‘garam masala’ used in a great variety of dishes. You can use ‘whole garam masala’ and ‘ground garam masala’ — it depends on the recipe. More below.

When do you use ground spices versus whole spices?

There is no hard rule here, it’s more about amounts and ratios. Indian recipes can include:

1. Ground spices only (e.g. Daddy’s Chicken Curry) – when you use only ground spices, like in this easy curry, you will get a smooth sauce. Plus, for common, everyday “quick” curries and dishes I use ground spices, generally following this model of amounts and ratios: Art of Indian Cooking
   

   Adding dry turmeric powder to Daddy’s Chicken Curry

2. Whole spices only (e.g. Basmati Rice with Saffron and Whole Spices) – when you use only whole spices, you add aromatic hints of each whole spice to a dish that is typically cooked with oil over a stovetop or steamed. You can serve the finished dish as is, or fish out the whole spices before serving.  
3. Ground + whole spices combined (e.g. Baingan Burtha/Roasted Eggplant) – it is very common to begin with whole spices (heating them in oil and then adding aromatics like onion), and then adding ground spices later in the cooking process (around the time you might add fresh chopped tomatoes and freshly grated ginger root). The easiest way to think about the combination of ground and whole spices is like this: whole spices imbue deep, rich aromatic qualities to a dish, while ground spices create the base of a dish and are more subtle, but certainly present, and you can tell if you omit them. Ingredients like fresh tomatoes, ginger, cilantro, and yogurt, can be added at different stages of the cooking process (see my 5-10-5 Rule).

Adding whole spices to begin making Baingan Bhurtha

Is it possible to substitute ground spices for whole spices?

Yes, you can, but it’s not a 1:1 ratio — so in other words, to replace one cinnamon stick you do NOT need 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon (that would be way too powerful and overwhelm any dish), even though visually it might make sense. Adding a whole spice to a dish in the cooking process lends hints of that spice to a dish (you can remove a cinnamon stick when you’re serving or leave it in because it looks pretty). As a rough substitute you would use 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon in place of one cinnamon stick. As you probably know, ground cinnamon goes a long way (i.e. in oatmeal) and you don’t need that much for significant impact. This is an area where many people can go wrong with Indian cooking and can’t quite figure out what went wrong with a dish — too little of a spice or too much of a spice can result in a dish that’s either bland or too strong and almost inedible.

You only need 10 ground spices in your pantry to make a wide variety of Indian dishes, some of which you probably already have in your kitchen (salt, pepper, sugar, cumin powder, paprika, and red chilli flakes, to name a few)