Adding that hint of spice to your dish can change your dinner from dull to delicious, but it isn’t always easy to come by the fresh varieties and more often than not when you do buy fresh there’s some wastage. As a nation we have the option of many dried herbs and spices to jazz up anything from our soups to sweets. I was excited to learn about new product ‘Spice Drops’ from Holy Lama Naturals. I had their lemongrass and cinnamon extracts to make a meal out of.
I liked using the extractor tool, it reminded me of science lessons at school! It means, unlike when using your bog standard essences or extracts, you can control the amount used in the dish instead of having to hope you don’t put too much in!
Spice drops aim is to retain the true flavours of the whole spice, they currently offer 29 spice blends and are adding to that number all the time. The product is produced in South India which has the advantage of growing an abundant of fresh spices in which Holy Lama use to create their unique product. What’s more, they are also vegan, Fairtrade and have ethical views towards employment, the products also contain no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives!
You can buy Spice Drops from Ocado online who have an offer on at the moment whereby you can get £20 off your first shop. Spice Drops have a shelf life of 3 years where as some powdered or dry spices lose their flavour within 12 months.
With the winter nights now rolling in thick and fast, I desperately needed a pick-me-up so I chose to test out the lemongrass extract in my Thai green curry!
Thai green curry with spice drops lemongrass extract
The addition of the lemongrass to my Thai curry added a zesty zingy burst of flavour. I vaguely followed Nigella’s Thai green curry recipe, halfing the quantities for my boyfriend and I as her recipe serves 4 and replacing the fresh lemongrass with spice drop’s version. Or make a quantity for four and freeze the rest.
Up next was dessert, a cinnamon banana loaf. I wanted a healthier version so I used half wholemeal and half white flour to increase the fibre content (using only whole meal flour would have made the bread too dense). I also reduced the sugar content by approx 30g as ripe bananas have lots of natural sugar you can taste. I vaguely followed this banana bread recipe making my adjustments and adding 2 drops of cinnamon spice drops.
So I’d recommend you give spice drops a go. I’m off to have a cinnamon hot chocolate courtesy of spice drops.
Tuggy Tucks In 