Capture the flavour of India

While there is demand for authentic herbs and spices to be used in today's Indian ready meals, knowing exactly what you will get at the end of a production run requires some specialist knowledge, delegates were told at an Indian food seminar organised by the Development Chefs' Network in June.

Ian Daglish, sales director of ethnic snacks producer Korway Foods, said spices needed to be treated carefully, especially chilli, and that cooking with spices in the factory was much more difficult than in a kitchen.

Celia Wright, founder of product development consultancy Cheftech, said there were 2,000 varieties of chilli each with different heat intensities: "You have to know the Scoville units to know what heat level you have got and how to fry-off the chilli to reduce that heat."

Fat content is also important, as when producing low fat food variants, the lower fat content can increase the spice heat level. "In some recipes, if less fat is used the heat levels may go through the roof," warned Wright.

The shelf-life of spices was also something that manufacturers needed to consider. According to Tony Deep Wouhra, md and founder of ethnic ingredients importer East End Foods, the average shelf-life of ground spice is around four months -- much shorter than that of whole spices. This is because grinding affects the flavour levels with many of the volatiles being lost during this process: "Up to half the flavour performance may be lost on grinding," said Deep Wouhra.

"At East End Foods we have new grinding equipment using liquid nitrogen to help retain the flavour for longer. We also pack spices in foil laminates to keep the flavour in."

Traceability was another key issue. Mike Ball of the Food Standards Agency said it was important that companies establish good supplier relationships to ensure that they have full traceability and can be assured that all legal standards are being met. "If [all manufacturers] reject adulterated spices, the bottom will fall out of that market," he said.

Contact: Development Chefs Network, Tel: 07759 726 416​