Cardamom and Tea

“Baharat” simply means spices in Arabic, but often refers to a seven spice blend. Think of this one sort of like a Lebanese version of garam masala. The warm notes of coriander, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg give the blend a lovely well-rounded flavor.

one recipe, two options

The recipe at the end of this post gives you two ways of making it: You can measure all your ingredients to yield about 1 cup. Or you could make whatever size batch you’d like with ratios.

How do you use a recipe that says something like “1 part paprika”? You just find an item you can use to measure something—it could be a thimble or it could be a coffee mug—and you use that as your “1 part.” Then you just add however many parts the recipe calls for. So 12 thimbles of black pepper and 1 thimble of cardamom. Or 12 coffee mugs of black pepper and 12 coffee mugs of cardamom. The choice is yours!

Baharat storage and use

A spice blend is the kind of thing that you make in a big batch and use over the course of a several months to a year (it will last closer to a year if stored in a sealed glass or stainless steel container). While it takes a small amount of effort up front, you’ll reap the benefits for a long time.

If I’m cooking with this spice blend (as opposed to just sprinkling it), I usually temper it in oil over low heat for about 1 to 2 minutes, which gives it a toastier flavor. But it’s also delicious sprinkled as-is.

chicken kebabs on a blue gingham tablecloth

Recipes featuring baharat / 7 spice:

Baharat (7 spice) + ways to use

Print Recipe

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Yield: just over 1 cup

Ingredients

1/4 cup ground black pepper (3 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons whole peppercorns)
1/4 cup ground paprika
1/4 cup ground cumin seeds (1/4 cup whole cumin seeds)
1/4 cup ground coriander seeds (1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds)
2 tablespoons ground cloves (2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons whole cloves)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (2 1/2 inch cinnamon stick)
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (1 small nutmeg) – optional
1 teaspoon ground cardamom (8 to 9 cardamom pods)

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Instructions

Combine ground spices and store in a resealable container (preferably glass).

Notes

If you’d like to make a larger batch, here are the ratios:

12 parts ground black pepper
12 parts ground paprika
12 parts ground cumin seeds
12 parts ground coriander seeds
6 parts ground cloves
2 parts ground cinnamon
1 part ground nutmeg (optional)
1 part ground cardamom

This spring, I’ve been making so much baklava (also known as baklawa). And I mean, really, a lot. I’m pretty obsessive about tinkering with and testing my recipes before posting them here, so I’ve lost track of the number of trays I’ve made in the last couple months while fine-tuning my recipes for cardamom baklawa and olive oil botanical baklawa. So I had to come up with some sort of baklava ice cream to use up all those leftovers.

Luckily, the baking method I use is super easy, so the “problem” with making heaps of baklava isn’t really the amount of time it takes, but the sheer quantity left over. In other words, when it’s as simple as slicing, pouring, and baking, it’s pretty easy to end up with way too much. After you’ve shared plates with friends, left some at the neighbors’ doors, stuffed plastic containers into your guests’ luggage, and eaten some for breakfast every day for a week, you need to figure out what to do with all those delicious leftovers.

That’s where baklava frozen yogurt comes in.

The key to making baklava frozen yogurt is to remember to freeze some leftover baklava next time you make a batch, so that you can easily make it into frozen yogurt later on. You know it’s time to freeze the leftover baklava once it starts to feel like a chore to have to finish the rest of the tray—at that point, stop what you’re doing (because eating should never feel like work!), freeze those leftovers, and enjoy them in frozen yogurt form after a few weeks, once baklava is a novelty again. But, honestly, this frozen yogurt is so good, I’ve baked baklava just so that I could have some left over to make this recipe.

If you’re using my recipe for cardamom baklawa, this frozen yogurt recipe will work well as is. But if you’re using another kind of baklawa or baklava, feel free to substitute the cardamom with something that works better with the particular baklava you’re working with. For instance, you might replace some or all of the cardamom with cinnamon, cloves, or allspice, and you might add a teaspoon or so of rosewater or orange blossom water to the yogurt. It’s entirely up to you.