I beleive they are Poppy Seeds and are known popularly as Khus Khus in India.

chiman

Thanks Chaman, but aren't poppy seeds black? The ones I have used here are and much smaller than the seeds I am referring to. These seeds would probably be about the size of millet and the colour of sesame seeds. Perhaps it is a different type of poppy? Opium, maybe.. lol

Poppy seeds I have reffered to look like Amaranth seeds but much smaller than that.I have not seen Opium seeds and Opium is not used to prepare Indian style curries.I am not aware of black Poppy seeds.

chiman

There are different varieties of poppies and poppy seeds:

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"Indian and European poppy seeds vary greatly in appearance. Both are very tiny and light but the indian variety are ivory to beige and the European variety called Maw is dark grey. There is also a Turkish variety which is tobacco brown. Contrary to belief poppy seeds do not give you a high. When cooked they have a distinct nutty aroma. Their graininess is often used to give texture to indian dishes. "

From Poppy Seeds which has further information on use in curries, and other dishes in different countries.

Thanks Violet for information.

chiman

Thank you Chaman and Violet. You could be on the right track with the poppy seed, but my question is still, 'does it smell like aniseed when crushed'? I might have mislead you by saying the Amah called it Kus Kus. She was unable to identify everything she used and would, when writing out a recipe, stick some seeds on the paper with tape, and say 1 teaspoon of that. Great help. :) I would go to the local grocer and show him and he would give me the required ingredient and I would still be none the wiser regarding the name of the said 'that'. The recipes worked well, though.

chiman & woori,

We all learn from eachother...

;)

Woori, if you go to the local grocer literally with a sampling of the spice, ask the grocer about it. Have them tell you everything they know. If they know it by a particular name in a certain language, sound it out and spell it in English here. Eventually, there is a good chance we'll figure out exactly what it is.

Hi Violet, I would love to do that, but unfortunately I don't have any here. That is what I would do in Malaysia. My particular grocer didn't want to deal very much with Australians and would wave me away when I asked for details of the ingredients. They had a system where you just showed something or pointed to something and handed over the money. Nothing was said. Something about honour, etc, in dealing with a white woman. I should have tried somewhere else, but obviously didn't think it worth the effort at the time.

Ah... I see. Do you need mail order sources?

I will try to see what I can find locally first, thanks Violet. If it is poppy seeds, it shouldn't be too difficult to find some in our Asian Grocery stores. If not, I'll be back! Thanks for your help. :)

First, I don't think poppy seeds are used in curries. Anyway, poppy seeds are slightly flat but as flat sesame seeds.

Second, I think the seeds you are talking about is really tiny and round, its probably mustard seed.

I am not sure where you went in Malaysia to buy the spices but if you went to an Indian grocer it far more likely that they don't speak English very well vs. the "honor" or "dealing with a white woman" reason.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mustard seed Pix

Thanks for the input, Zatil. The grocer could actually speak very good English in fact. I was there for a few years and had some strange experiences with some of the locals and great experiences with others. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and loved the food. You could be right about the mustard seeds. It would make more sense to me so I will try some and see if they smell the same when crushed. The only ones I have seen so far are brown rather than cream in colour, but I'll have another look.

Woori

Good Luck!

Hello Folks,
You may try Cardomom seed,green is used extensively and on occassions black if available,but common in India. Alan.
asmith2@tampabay.rr.com

I don't know that the would be good substitutes for each other zambesi. Cardomom seeds are much stronger and have a very different flavor than poppy seeds.