This is my Mama's seven spice mix. I use a pinch of seven spice in 99% of my recipes so this is a good one to have if you love Lebanese cuisine.
Sometimes even a little tiny hint of seven spice will make a big difference for example in tabbouleh.
Other times you want to add a big spoon such as in my seven spice and sumac chicken.
The spices
Turmeric, cinnamon, paprika, ground coriander, black pepper, cayenne, and cumin make up the core of the seven spice blend.
Garam masala is also added to supplement these 7 spices and provide a backdrop.
You can also add ground cloves, nutmeg, fenugreek and ginger, but I feel these are too strong for a basic spice blend and don't include them.
There are no hard and fast rules about spice blends; you can increase the ratio of spices you like and decrease or even remove ones you're not so keen on, and every family has their own version.
A good way to know if spices are still good to use is to smell them (who would have thought!) and if you don't get a strong aroma then it is probably past it's best.
You can now buy quite good seven spice mix in the UK; usually called 'Baharat' which basically translates to 'spices' in Arabic.
However, I promise it will always taste better when you make it yourself. It's always fresher and you know the proportions of the spices that go into it.
You can even make little jars of seven spice to gift to friends who will surely appreciate an authentic recipe.
📖 Recipe
Lebanese Seven Spice
Traditional Lebanese spice blend
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon coriander
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 5 tablespoon garam masala
Instructions
-
Mix all the spices together and store in an airtight container.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
You can also had half a tablespoon of the following: cloves, nutmeg, fenugreek and ginger.
This makes around 250g and can be stored for up to 1 year.
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You might also like these other recipes from Zaatar and Zaytoun:
Monika Umm Osman
MARHABA!
I have found your page today, and I went through all of the recipes already!
Am still learning lebanes ecuisine as i am married to a lebanese 🙂
this website is a real treasure i have been searching for!!
Thank you and i appreciate the time and work that you put into creating and updating it
lumpkim
Garam masala and allspice are super different, at least as I understand them. Can you elaborate on what we’re going for with that?
Carla
I have a friend who was raised by her brother in law and sister when she was little and they made many Lebanese dishes but one in particular which we all have had and enjoyed was called “chemmin” it’sa whole bunch of spices like fenugreek, paprika, garlic & onion powder, black pepper , cayenne, cumin ,you get the idea?
The name is off I feel but the spices were put in a bowl and water was added to make a paste like texture. Put in little containers and frozen. This paste was added to ground meat I’m sure back in the day it was lamb or goat but nevertheless it was cooked in tomato sauce served over rice pilaf if anybody could actually give me the proper name of this it would be great she called it chem- la-Kefftah
Thanks Carla
Zaatar
Hi there! I think it might be our kamouneh spice mix for kibbeh, recipe can be found here: https://zaatarandzaytoun.com/kamouneh/
Zaatar
It really depends on your preference, but a general multi-spice mix adds another dimension to the 7 spice, use what you have!
Amal
I prefer to make my own spice blend too
K the Kat
Thank you for the recipe. My husband hates the taste of cloves in the Seven spices that I bought. The taste of the cloves is really overpowering. I'll make my own Seven spices with your recipe.
Raj mondal
I'm Lebanese chef's, Very good
Elizabetta
Thank you!!!