Discover The Aromatic Panch Phoran Recipe

Let’s see what are the five spices for this panch phoran recipe. Refer to the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD at the bottom of this post for the quantities, and to save the recipe for later. You can also go to the recipe card by pressing the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of this post. The recipe card will also let you scale the recipe based on how much you want to make!

• Nigella seeds: Called Kalonji in Hindi, Nigella seeds are often tempered, and they help to promote digestion. I like to top my naan bread with Nigella seeds sometimes! They make it visually interesting and adds a refreshing flavour. Of course it’s optional!
• Fennel seeds: In Hindi, they are called saunf. Fennel seeds are aromatic and are often used as a mouth refresher to cleanse your palette. You usually get these on your table after your meal at an Indian restaurant. They are green and have a sweet taste, which will be prominent in your cooking. Fennel seeds also have many other health benefits such as assisting in digestion and reducing gas. They are anti-inflammatory, soothing the muscles in the intestines and reducing the swelling and inflammation in the intestine. This can help alleviate constipation.
• Brown mustard seeds: Known as rai in Hindi. Mustard seeds are more commonly used in South Indian cooking, but occasionally used in North Indian cuisine. You want to use brown or black mustard seeds instead of yellow because the flavour is much stronger. Be cautious of the crackling that occurs when you fry mustard seeds! If you don’t have brown mustard seeds, you can substitute with carom seeds (ajwain).
• Cumin seeds: An essential in Indian cooking! I pretty much use them in every dish! Called jeera in Hindi, whole or ground cumin promote healthy digestion and can help to clear phlegm and mucus. They have an earthy and nutty taste and aroma.
• Fenugreek seeds: Called Methi seeds in Hindi. These are very bitter and you only generally only need a little bit to taste it. Some recipes keep an equal amount of fenugreek seeds compared to the other spices and others reduce it. You’ll see in my recipe I’ve significantly cut down on the amount of fenugreek seeds versus the other spices. This is to ensure your dish won’t be too bitter.

You can probably find these spices at your local South Asian grocer, but if you don’t have one near you, then definitely check out the links above to shop for them online on Amazon in your country!

You can use Panch Phoran in many ways! It’s iconic in my Aloo Kohra Sabjirecipe, or Indian Potatoes & Pumpkin Curry. You could also add it in Basmati Rice or Crispy Aloo Bhujia. As mentioned earlier, if there is a recipe where you start out by roasting cumin seeds, you can use Panch Phoran instead for extra flavour and fragrance! The options are actually endless, but some dishes you could try this in include Delhi-Style Chole, Aloo Baingan Masala, or Slow-Cooked Chicken Changezi. Comment below how you will use your Panch Phoran to give me some inspiration!