How to tell when it’s time to replace your dried spices

For such small things, spices tend to create a lot of confusion in the kitchen. Maybe that’s why they’re also often on the receiving end of a fair bit of neglect.

Because dried whole and powdered spices don’t wilt, blacken or mould, they appear ageless. Which is why that rubber band-wrapped plastic sachet of fenugreek powder still haunts the back of your pantry years after using it in your first chicken curry.

But even the most robust dried spice has a use-by date. And it’s not as far into the future as you might think.

OK, so how long should I keep my dried spices?

For someone who is a frequent and ardent user, I would say no longer than six months. If spice for you is a special occasion in the kitchen, then up to 12 months. This includes whole dried spices like star anise and green cardamon kept in jars out of direct sunlight.

But doesn’t the drying process preserve the spice?

No. Just because a spice is dried, it doesn’t mean it’s dead. Light, air, heat or humidity and time all cause degradation in dried spices just as those elements will cause degradation in fresh spices or produce.

How does using old spices affect my food?

When a spice is old, its aromatic character will flatten. Every spice has tiers and flounce. Kashmiri chilli powder, for example, has smoke and a subtle floral sweetness that creates texture and beauty in its heat. Cumin seed is pine, citrus and eucalypt before it arrives at cedar and soil. Turmeric powder is gingery and warm, with a rounded and balanced weight that softens its bitter and earthy tail.

As a spice ages, those tiers begin to fall away. Think of it like petals falling from a dying flower.

The initial ageing isn’t disastrous — you might lose a few of the prettier upfront notes but enough interest remains to mask the loss. But as time progresses, a spice will become flat and atonal. Kashmiri chilli powder’s vermillion flame becomes a dull brick heat. Cumin seed tastes dirty. Turmeric powder reads as heavy with a one-dimensional bitterness.

It’s like clanging hammers together and trying to make music.

If you’re a maestro with masala, you might be able to make it work. But it takes a lot of heavy lifting.

What are the benefits of using “fresh” dried spices?

They cover your mistakes. You need less of them. Your food will taste of complexity and not of dirt, flat heat and tone-deaf bitterness.

How do I tell if my spices are old?

Taste them. This does require a bit of homework, but here’s what I suggest.

Grab an old spice from the back of your cupboard. Let’s say, it’s fennel seed. Line it up against a fennel seed bought new from a supermarket, and then an organic taste of fennel seed bought from a specialty spice retailer or online store. Taste from oldest through to organic.

Old dried fennel seed will be dry to chew and its natural liquorice sweetness will be faded and watery, like rechewing old chewing gum.

New non-organic dried fennel seed will be dry to begin and a little sticky to chew towards the finish. It will cause your mouth to salivate and that moistness highlights its strong liquorice primary tastes.

Organic or high quality dried fennel seed will be a sticky chewy mouthful. A flood of sweet liquorice pools around the bottom jaw before being polished with a subtle and wooded floral wash.

These experiences of each spice will build in you, over time, an internal taste reference library. This means that whenever you taste a spice before you throw it in the pot, you’ll get an automatic vibe on its age and its aromatic potential. This will help you to use it well and in the right quantities.

What if I’m mid-recipe, and I can only use what I have?

A couple of tricks. You can grind seed spices — turning old cumin seeds into cumin powder will offer a little lift. Use a mortar and pestle to bash and break open any old whole spice like cardamom, black or green, or star anise. Cook with a luscious fat like ghee, or add a few hefty tablespoons of butter to olive oil: sweet and thick fats will offer the appearance of aromatic volume.

Dry toasting only dulls old spice further.

What should I do with my old spices?

Throw them in the garden. Part of the message of the traditional Indian regions is that all food is prasad, a gift. Giving your old spices back to the earth is a fitting burial.

Sarina Kamini is a Kashmiri-Australian cookbook author, teacher and cook. Her book What We Call Masala published by Murdoch Books is out now.