Gurdeep Loyal's trend-led recipes

Trend: Tajin

Recipe: Tajin shrimp fajita salad

Tajín is an iconic Mexican seasoning that includes such ingredients as dried lime, ancho and pasilla chilli, sea salt, smoked paprika and oregano. It has a tangy, earthy, zesty flavour with a mild chilli heat that’s perfect to use as a marinade or over barbecued vegetables. It’s often sprinkled over sweet ripe fruits such as pineapple, mango and watermelon, and goes well with grilled seafood. Tajín is loved by chefs at restaurants including Casa Pastor in London and Bonita Taqueria Y Rotisserie in San Francisco. In this fresh and vibrant fajita salad, the Tajín is part of the marinade for the prawns and as a seasoning for the baked tortilla strips – great with a cold Mexican beer.

Trend: Advieh

Recipe: Chicken shawarma with advieh

Advieh is a versatile, aromatic Iranian spice mixture that can be used in anything from rice dishes and fragrant stews to pickle brines and BBQ marinades. Spices included are typically cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper and rose petals, although special blends add dried lime, Persian angelica and sumac. These are roasted to release their aromas, then ground to a powder. It’s a combination loved by chefs at restaurants including Berenjak in London and Persepolis in New York. Ready-made blends are available in Middle Eastern supermarkets such as Green Valley, or online from freshlyspiced.co.uk or spicemountain.co.uk, which I used for the recipe.

Trend: Salsa macha

Recipe: Pinto bean and salsa macha dip

Salsa macha is a mexican crushed chilli paste that can include ingredients such as dried chillies, peanuts, spices and seeds, garlic and agave syrup. It has an intense smoky, fruity flavour and is great used as a condiment for tacos, to add to marinades or spoon over scrambled eggs. It’s an ingredient loved by chefs such as Karla Zazueta of blog Mexican Food Memories, and Gabriel Pryce at Rita’s in Soho, and found often on the menus of restaurants including Casa Pastor and Kol. Here it’s rippled into a creamy pinto bean dip that’s great for a picnic or barbecue. Brands such as Luchito, Cool Chile and Natoora all sell their own blends of Salsa Macha, available at Ocado.

Trend: Calabrian chilli paste

Recipe: Calabrian chilli pulled pork

Calabrian chilli paste, aka crema di peperoncino, is typically made with naso di cane chillies from the toe of Italy. They’re combined with vinegar, oil and salt to make the fiery paste, which has a tangy-fruity quality that’s wonderful on bruschetta, added to slow-cooked stews or served alongside cheese. It’s an ingredient found on the menus of restaurants, including Bocco Di Lupo and Lina Stores. I particularly like the brand Seggiano.

This recipe combines Calabrian chilli paste with fennel seeds, smoked salt and anchovies to make a punchy marinade for slow-cooked pork, delicious on its own with a green salad or stuffed into brioche buns.

Trend: Sambhar masala

Recipe: Sambhar maple-butter cornbread

Sambhar masala is a South Indian spice mixture that combines ingredients such as coriander seeds, curry leaves, fenugreek, turmeric, mustard seeds and roasted dhals. It’s used to make sambhar dhals to go with rice dishes, dosas and idlis, and can be used in veg stir-fries and curries. Its aromatic, earthy flavour with herbal and mustardy notes is distinct from the North Indian mixture garam masala. It’s loved by chefs in restaurants including Hoppers in London, Semma in New York and Chaat at the Rosewood in Hong Kong. I especially like the mixture from MDH that can be found in most Indian supermarkets or online from The Asian Cookshop.

This recipe uses sambhar masala to make a sweet-spicy masala glaze for cheddar cornbread.

Trend: Tonka beans

Recipe: Passion fruit and tonka bean tart

These unprepossessing, dark brown, wrinkled dried beans have a complex flavour a little like a mixture of vanilla, almonds and sweet spices. They need to be grated to release their flavour – my favourite brand is Spice Mountain.

This recipe for passion fruit and tonka bean tart is packed with creamy, sweet and zesty flavours. Plus, it can be prepared in just 30 minutes.

Trend: Black cardamom

Recipe: Glazed cocktail sausages

Smoky black cardamom is a gutsier version than more familiar green ones. Here the spice ups the ante in this classic Christmas party dish. Find it easily online or in some supermarkets, either in 30-50g pots or larger bags.

Cocktail sausages are classic party food, and here they’re taken up a notch or two with a glaze of black cardamom, fennel, cumin and honey.

Trend: Black tahini

Recipe: Black tahini noodles with crispy spring onions

Black tahini is the nuttier cousin to traditional tahini – made using unhulled black sesame seeds that are slowly roasted. It has a richer, sweeter and smokier taste with a thicker texture that works for both sweet and savoury, such as in cookies, glazes, pulse-based dips and for drizzling over grilled meats. It’s loved by chefs – find it at restaurants like Bubala in London, Pearl 6101 in San Francisco and by brands like Darlish.

This recipe combines the scorched savouriness of black tahini with soy, honey and vinegary sriracha to make a thick, glossy sauce that coats noodles wonderfully, with crispy spring onions for textural crunch.

Trend: Kithul syrup

Recipe: Sri Lankan watalappan (coconut custard with kithul)

Kithul syrup also known as kithul treacle – is a Sri Lankan syrup made from unrefined palm sugar. It has a rich, caramel taste with hints of date and honey, and can be used as a sweetener in desserts. It’s a favourite ingredient of chef Cynthia Shanmugalingam at her pop-up Rambutan, and at Kolamba restaurant on Carnaby Street, which sells its very own kithul. Kithul syrup is available from ceylonsupermart.com.

Trend: Fiori di Sicilia

Recipe: Citrussy Chelsea buns

Fiori di Sicilia is a highly fragrant Italian citrussy extract used in traditional bakes such as panettone and pandoro, to flavour marzipan sweets, and often mixed into ricotta to fill cannoli. Meaning ‘flowers of Sicily’, it has flavours of lemons, orange, bergamot and woody vanilla with hints of liquorice. It varies in strength but can be used in the same way you might use rose water or orange blossom. It’s a favourite ingredient among baking bloggers online – particularly used in cookies, loaf cakes and brioche buns.

The hottest Italian delis in London – such as Lina Stores, Eataly and Terroni – are stocking it or products flavoured with it. We got ours online from bakerybits.co.uk.

Trend: Achiote seeds

Recipe: Achiote seared tuna salad

Annatto seeds (also known as achiote seeds) are a mild, sweet spice that come from the achiote tree. They’re used as a delicate seasoning and colouring in South/Central American, Caribbean and Filipino cuisines, imparting a deep red-yellow pigment to dishes. You can buy annatto seeds whole, powdered or as ready-made achiote paste. They are also infused into oils or ground into spice pastes. They have a nutty, peppery taste with gentle floral notes of nutmeg and saffron, and can be used to flavour and colour soups, stews, curries and marinades.

Annatto seeds often feature on the menus of Mexican restaurant KOL in London and Filipino-Californian restaurant Abacá in San Francisco, and can also be found in the deli section at Ottolenghi. We got ours from spicemountain.co.uk.

Trend: Anardana powder

Recipe: Anardana paneer kati rolls

Anardana powder is a pantry staple in Indian and Persian cuisines, made from dried and ground pomegranate seeds. It has a sweet-tartness and fruity tang that tastes a little like sumac and tamarind combined together. It adds sour depth to slow-cooked strews, a hit of sharp flavour to marinades, or can even be sprinkled onto salads as a zippy final garnish. Anardana comes in a variety of grinds which can vary from a finely crushed red powder to more of a purple coarse rubble and whole dried pomegranate seeds.

It’s an ingredient used often on the menus of flavour-forward restaurants Jikoni and Kutir in London, and the hip restaurant Anardana in New Delhi, India. We got ours from spicemountain.co.uk.

Trend: Nanami chilli paste

Recipe: Nanami gyoza

Nanami paste is an aromatic Japanese chilli paste that combines red chillies with yuzu peel, sesame, sake and ginger. It can be added to sushi, ramen or dumplings, and can also be found in a dried powder format.

It’s often seen in stylish Japanese restaurants across the globe, such as Nanami Izakaya in Singapore and the inventive Michelin-recommended Sushi Nanami in Taipei, Taiwan. In the UK it can be found in Japanese supermarkets such as the Japan Centre in London and online store Tuk Tuk Mart.

Trend: Jasmine pearl tea

Recipe: Jasmine pearl tea gimlet

Jasmine pearls are made from young Chinese green tea leaves that are carefully hand-rolled into small round beads. These are then submerged into or layered with fresh jasmine flower blossoms as many as 15 times, allowing the jasmine to impart its intensely floral-sweet scents into the tea. It has a delicate, fresh flavour with notes of heady jasmine that are released in full as the pearls unfurl in boiling water. It’s delicious to drink on its own or it can be turned into an aromatic syrup, which can then be used for making cocktails, drizzling over ice cream or even pouring over fresh tropical fruits.

Find at large supermarkets and health food shops.

Trend: Black garlic

Recipe: Beer battered fish tacos

Black garlic is made by ageing white garlic bulbs at gentle temperatures and a specific humidity. It has a rich dark colour, soft fudgy texture and deeply savoury and sweet flavour. It can add depth to stocks and stews, stir-fries and pasta dishes, and can be added to marinades and dressings.

Buy at Sainsbury’s and Waitrose & Partners.

Trend: Nonya kaya

Recipe: Nonya kaya coconut ice cream

A staple in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, nonya kaya (also called pandan kaya, kaya jam or coconut jam) is a coconut-egg paste that’s sweetened with sugar and flavoured with pandan leaf. Spread over toast, add to sponges and frostings, or blend into milkshakes.

Find it online at tuktukmart.co.uk.

Trend: Blonde chocolate

Recipe: Blonde chocolate Christmas bark

Blonde chocolate is made by roasting white chocolate chips very slowly until they take on a golden cappuccino colour and toasted caramel aromas. Use in chocolate truffles or a rich ganache to spread between layers of sponge.

Find blonde chocolate at M&S, both in stores and online through Ocado.

Trend: Sour cherries

Recipe: Spiced pear and sour cherry chutney

Dried sour cherries have a deep red colour, tangy flavour and chewy texture. They are great for adding tartness to koftas, kebabs and tabbouleh salads, or baked into breakfast muffins, granolas and loaf cakes. They also work well in mince pies and stuffings, Christmas jams and preserves.

Find dried sour cherries at Waitrose & Partners.

Trend: Colatura di alici

Recipe: Lamb cutlets with celeriac slaw

An Italian condiment made from fermented salted anchovies. It comes from the ancient Roman tradition of ageing pungent fish (garums) in wooden barrels (terzigni), and a little really does go a long way! Just a few drops in pasta or dressings gives deep, rounded savouriness.

Buy online at souschef.co.uk.

Trend: Pandan

Recipe: Pandan cookies

Pandan is a signature for many sweet and savoury Southeast Asian dishes. The leaf has a grassy vanilla-like taste, with a subtle hint of toasted coconut. Use a few drops in cakes, pancakes, desserts or cocktails.

You can find concentrated pandan pastes or extracts in larger Tesco stores.

Trend: Umeboshi paste

Recipe: Umeboshi salmon skewers

Umeboshi paste is a salty-sour ingredient traditionally made in Japan using fine plums that are slowly preserved in sea salt. It has an intense, concentrated tanginess that adds a fruity flavour hit to sushi, dressings and marinades.

Find it online at souschef.co.uk.

Trend: Dried black lime powder

Recipe: Pea hummus

Rock-hard on the outside and shatteringly brittle on the inside, dried black limes are a staple of Persian cuisine, bringing an aromatic sourness to dishes. They can be added whole to slow braises and stews, where they give an earthy depth; or they can be ground to a fine powder sprinkle to give a vibrancy to food, in the way you might use sumac or lemon zest.

Find black limes online at souschef.co.uk or in Persian and Middle Eastern food shops.

Trend: Hibiscus powder

Recipe: Hibiscus, pomegranate and rose shrub

Dried hibiscus can be used in so many ways. Hibiscus is traditionally used to make tea and it has a deep, almost berry-like flavour. It’s great in cold drinks, too, such as this shrub or a cordial, or in desserts – try it with poached rhubarb. It also works brilliantly if you add it to a pickling liquor to make pickled onions, and in a hibiscus vinaigrette for salads.

Trend: Amchoor dried mango powder

Recipe: Honey-masala spatchcock chicken

Something quite magical happens with you combine sticky-spicy, salty-sweet and zesty-tangy in the same dish. The amchoor dried mango powder is the secret ingredient here, it gives a sour tartness that makes all of the other flavours in the chicken and mango-corn salad really zing.