Homemade Panch Phoron - The Traditional, 
Super Easy-to-Make Bengali Five Spice

Panch Phoron has to be one of the easiest seasonings you can make! Simply combine five equal amounts of spices and you're set. Whilst this is the easiest and traditional way, for more flavour, you can spend a few minutes dry toasting them prior to cooling them before very coarsely grinding. Recipe for both ways is shown below. (See the bottom of the page for links to more of my homemade seasoning recipes).

Homemade Panch Phoron Recipe

What You'll Need: (makes 10 tablespoons)

2 tbsp nigella seeds
2 tbsp yellow, brown or black mustard seeds
2 tbsp cumin seeds 
2 tbsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp fenugreek seeds

tbsp = tablespoon

Directions:

  • In a bowl, simply combine all the ingredients together

That's all there is to it!

Or For More Flavour...

  • Place the cumin, fennel and fenugreek seeds in a pan and, over a low to medium heat, dry toast them for a few minutes whilst stirring or shaking the pan
  • When you can really smell the fab aromas, take the pan off the heat and allow the ingredients to cool for a few minutes
  • Finally, once cooled, add them to your grinder and very coarsely grind. Pulsing the button a couple of times will do the trick

Click here for step by step tips, photos and an instructional video on how to toast and grind ingredients. (Link opens in new window)

Note: Using whole spices is traditionally the way to go when making this seasoning. However, if you don't have whole, you could use pre-ground powders and reduce the quantities the recipe requires by half. So, for 2 tablespoons of fenugreek seeds you would use 1 tablespoon of pre-ground fenugreek. Reduce any others by half as well and combine.

Further Toasting and Storing Info:

If you used whole spices, store in a cool place in an airtight jar and out of direct sunlight. Use within 1 year.

If you toasted and ground first, store in an airtight jar out of direct sunlight. Use within 3 months. Do likewise if you used pre-ground powders.

After Making Your Panch Seasoning You May Like to Try...

Rasam Powder - Add the
True Taste of Southern
India to Your Meals

Herbs de Provence -
The Classic French
Herb Blend

A Collection of Blends For
Great Home Cooking


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