Delicious aromas of this Moroccan spice blend are still lingering in the air few hours after I’ve finished making it. I can’t wait to rub the spice over those chicken wings I bought today and grill them on a bbq for dinner!
I used my old mortar and pestle to grind the seeds. Before grinding them, I toasted all the seeds and spices. Everything that was whole – cloves, peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon stick, chilli, cumin and coriander seeds were toasted separately to already ground spices.
Toasting spices brings their amazing flavours out.
Ingredients
1 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 tbsp paprika powder
1 1/2 tbsp ginger powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp white peppercorns
1 tsp black peppercorns
1-2 dried chilli
1 star anise
3 whole cloves
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1/4 cinnamon stick
2 tsp salt
1 lemon zest
1 tsp dried rosemary
Method
In a small frying pan toast all seeds and spices for 1-2 minutes or till fragrant. Mix them with a spoon while toasting to get them evenly toasted. Toast already ground spices separately to whole seeds and spices. Place whole seeds and spices into a mortar and grind to a powder. It may take a few minutes and a little muscle power.
Mix rest of the ingredients together with freshly ground spice. Place into an airtight container or a glass jar.
Here is a picture of a chicken I cooked two weeks back for a Sunday lunch with my husband’s side of the family. I used this spice blend as one of the ingredients and it was a hit. Recipe for this chicken is next to follow :).
