[Sca-cooks] spices

[Sharon Palmer]

I've read that amchur should be used in 8 months, but I have a large 
jar of amchur that is at least a decade old and still tastes the 
same.  I use it regularly but not often, and it started as a large 
jar.  Over the years, it has absorbed moisture, become hard, and no 
longer dissolves properly,  It has by no means spoiled though.  So I 
recently bought a new packet but haven't opened it yet. I need to 
compare the two.  The new packet is white and more powdery than the 
old stuff ever was.  The old stuff was black.  Amchur is made from 
green mango and is a souring agent. I think a sealed jar would be 
fine.  This is a nice spice, you should try it.

Ajwain is a seed that is a relative of cumin and coriander and 
probably lasts about as long as they would. If they are whole not 
ground are probably ok, although they may have lost some of the 
pungency and aroma.  I'd open the jar and smell it. Try sauteing a 
pinch in a bit of oil, see if it smells good. If you have ground 
ajwain and  it's more than a year old, I'd toss it.

Ranvaig

>We're cleaning out our spices and came across two Indian spices - Amchoor
>and Ajwain.
>
>Anybody ever use these before?  Haven't been able to pry the lids off yet
>to even smell them.
>
>Should we make an attempt or just purge?
>
>Thank you.
>
>Shoshanah