Panch Phoron(Bangladesh)

The distinct aroma of Bengali cuisine comes from the blend of spices known as panch phoron. Panch means “five” and phoron is “flavor”. Panch phoron is a blend of flavorful seeds: the green fennel, yellow mustard, black nigella, golden fenugreek and brown cumin. The ingredients are generally added in equal proportions, though this can vary according to taste. Nigella seeds are about the size of sesame seeds. The seeds appear often in East Indian Cooking. Their flavor is enhanced by heating or baking. If you can't find nigella seeds, I have given a substitue that will give you a good likeness of the oniony, sour taste. If you are looking for the color, you can add some black sesame seeds. From virtualbangladesh.com.

• Ready In: 5 mins
• Yields: 5 tablespoons

Ingredients

• 1  tablespoon nigella seeds (Sub 1 tbls. celery seeds,1/2 tbls. onion powder and squeeze lemon juice or 1 tsp ground dried lemon )
• 1  tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
• 1  tablespoon fenugreek seeds
• 1  tablespoon fennel seed
• 1  tablespoon cumin seed

Directions

1. Combine all spices. Store away from light.
2. If using substitute, keep in fridge, or wait to add lemon juice when cooking with it. You could also dry some lemon zest and add 1 teaspoons ground dried lemon zest to the dry mix(with the celery seeds and onion powder).