This recipe comes from the amazing book by Najmieh Batmanglij, Food of Life. I made advieh for basmati and fava rice.

advieh

Personally, I find spice mixes fascinating and mysterious bordering on scary. They’re so puzzling when you buy them pre-made. Whatever could be in these things? Chinese five spice is a perfect example. I look at it in its little jar on the supermarket shelf and become baffled. Yet when Heguiberto made it recently from scratch it suddenly became familiar and easy.

So with advieh, though there are some apparent variations. For example, Persian Kitchen adds nutmeg to the ingredients. Chowhound and food.com make theirs the same as Najmieh. However, Javaneh recommends lots more potential spices like star anise, zaafaran, pistachio, turmeric, ginger and many others. She seems to take a more free-form approach, which I always welcome.

Since I’m new at advieh, I basically stuck with the book. Of course, less is more when it comes to cinnamon at my house, so I reduced the total amount.

This is fun. In the act of preparing a spice mix, I always feel connected to the ancient and ongoing history of food.

basic advieh

2 tbsp dried rose petals
2 tbsp cardamom
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp cumin

Blend everything together in a spice mill or coffee grinder. Store in air tight container.