Mace

Flavour and aroma

delicate, warm, slightly citrusy, peppery. Delicate nutmeg with peppery notes.

Heat

No heat

Forms

whole, ground

How to use it

• dry roast · Spice roasting (dry-roasting) technique

  Add to the pan only for the last 15–20 seconds of roasting whole spices; it burns fast.

• grind · Dry grinding technique

  Grind with green cardamom into a fine powder to sprinkle over biryani and kormas.

• bloom in fat · Tadka (tempering) technique

  A blade or two can go into hot ghee for a few seconds with the whole spices for korma.

• Mughlai biryani, korma and nihari
• Potted shrimp and British pies
• Sausages and pâtés
• Light sauces and cakes

Identifying good quality

Flat, lacy, brittle blades, orange to tan when dried (Indonesian mace is often more orange-red, Grenadian more yellow-orange). Good mace is pliable, bright and strongly fragrant.

• Not to be confused with Nutmeg: Nutmeg is the seed inside; stronger and woodier.

Origin and history

Origin: The Banda Islands in the Moluccas, Indonesia.. Grown and used: Produced wherever nutmeg is grown: Indonesia, Grenada, India (Kerala), Sri Lanka..

Mace (javitri) is the lacy aril that wraps the nutmeg seed. It is a hallmark of Mughlai, Awadhi and Hyderabadi cooking, used in kormas, biryani and nihari, and in shahi garam masala.

Well documented

In masalas, pastes and sauces

• Punjabi garam masalaMasala2 g per batch
• Mughlai (shahi) garam masalaMasala4 g per batch
• Kerala (Malabar) garam masalaMasala2 g per batch
• Biryani masalaMasala3 g per batch
• Tandoori masalaMasala1 g per batch
• Goda masalaMasala1 g per batch
• Kolhapuri kanda-lasun masalaMasala1 g per batch
• Malvani masalaMasala1 g per batch
• Xacuti masalaMasala0.5 g per batch
• Massaman curry pasteMasala0.5 g per batch