Armenian Spice Mixture
The Quirky Foodster Team
About 1/2 cup
Servings
Ingredients
- cumin, coriander, paprika, fenugreek, and often a portion of chaman (a fenugreek-forward paste base used for basturma, cured beef), reflecting Armenian cuisine's particular use of fenugreek as a defining spice
Method
- Toast the whole seed spices, cool, grind, combine with paprika.
- Standard toast-then-grind method for the seed components.
Origin: Armenia (the Caucasus).
Use: Used broadly in Armenian meat seasoning, and specifically as the base for chaman paste in basturma production.
Classic Dishes: Basturma (air-dried, heavily spiced cured beef, where the fenugreek-forward chaman coating is a defining characteristic); various grilled meat preparations.
Storage: Keeps 2-3 months sealed and dark.
Variations: The prominent, defining use of fenugreek — both seed and, in chaman paste form, as a wet coating — distinguishes Armenian spicing from most neighboring Caucasus and Central Asian traditions in this section.
Substitutions: A simplified cumin-coriander-paprika-fenugreek mix.
- cumin, coriander, paprika, fenugreek, and often a portion of chaman (a fenugreek-forward paste base used for basturma, cured beef), reflecting Armenian cuisine's particular use of fenugreek as a defining spice
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