Gingerbread Spice Mix

Gingerbread spices are endlessly customizable. This version balances warm, spicy flavors against cool, citrus-y ones, and has a cool finish of cardamom, anise, and black pepper. Unless you have a very good source for ground ginger, you're best grinding your own from whole dried versions. A microplane makes a quick job of them.

Chaat Masala (Indian Street Snack Spice Blend)

This funky, salty, spicy, and sour spice blend is all you need to transform anything into a chaat (a type of street snack popular throughout South Asia). It's great for traditional chaat recipes, such as for papri chaat and panipuri, but can also be sprinkled over fruit or vegetables or used as a spice for snack foods.

Prik Gaeng Massaman (Thai Massaman Curry Paste)

Warm spices and toasted aromatics give this curry paste smoky complexity.

Prik Gaeng Garee (Thai Yellow Curry Paste)

A Thai curry paste heavily influenced by South Asian flavors.

Channa Masala

As one of the most popular dishes in the world, channa masala—chickpeas cooked in a spicy and tangy tomato-based sauce—is the kind of dish that stirs passions.

Chickpea, Coconut, and Cashew Curry

This 30-minute curry is intense with garam masala and ginger cooled by coconut milk and ground toasted cashews.

Homemade Ras el Hanout

A slew of North African spices combine to make a fragrant, exotic mixture. Whether used as a grill rub, when pan-frying fish or as the foundation for tagine, diverse, distinctive ras el hanout is worth the investment and effort to make.

Masala Chai

You can adjust this chai recipe to your own personal taste and preference. The ratio of milk to water (or indeed, choice to use cow's milk at all) is perhaps the biggest variable, followed by choice and amount of sweetener. Start with an easy recipe like this, and then adjust to emphasize the qualities you like best in your masala chai.

Prik Gaeng Khiao Waan (Thai Green Curry Paste)

Fresh green chiles are the key to this bright curry paste.

Chana Dal (Bengal Gram)

This simple, gluten-free, high-fiber Chana Dal (or bengal gram) is an excellent vegetarian and potentially vegan spiced Indian lentil dish. It's easy to make, hearty, and satisfying.