Old Spice!

I have some in my spice rack but I’ve only used it once in a particular curry recipe, and have never put it in a curry since. It says use a quarter to half a teaspoonful for four servings. It must have been a millennium curry because it expired in December 2000, so I suppose I ought to throw it away.......

My policy is never to use any herbs and spices with an expiry date in the 20th century.

I use it quite often in curries. Known also as methi (its Indian name) it's especially delicious in dhal and in potato curries, if you enjoy a tangy, slightly bitter taste. If you have whole or partially ground seeds, they work best if you start by dry frying them before adding other ingredients. If you have it in powdered form, it can be stirred in with other spices.
Like any powdered spice, it starts to lose flavour after around a year so your jar can be gracefully pensioned off after 13 years!

I am a convert to whole, fresh spices where possible. The flavours are so much better.

whoops, meant to say I use fenugreek in curry dishes, it's flavour full.

pensionpat ?

I always go through my spices at the start of the year and discard any that are out of, or going out of date. (she said smugly) St Delia told me to and I feel like a real housewife when its done!

I once came back from my Art History class to find that Paw had proudly tidied out my spice cupboard throwing out all the out of date jars.( Admittedly some WERE pre Millennium )
That was in fact just about ALL of them and it cost a small fortune to restock.
Happy Days

I had a look in my spices cupboard and I have fenugreek, but I have to tell you Elrel that mine is dated 2012 and its unopened, so I wont be much help in explaining what its used for. Clearly I didnt know either!

MawBroon My daughter had done that too and thrown out all of mine. BUT I had been refilling the same jars for years with fresh herbs and spices, because the jars all fitted neatly in to the many small drawers in the wooden chest on the counter top....stored in the dark as they should be.
She did kindly replace them but they are now too tall for the drawers.

Yes, I use it in curries too. I have lots of different spices, and make up my own curry powder.

Interesting to see how our generation take spices and "exotic" ingredients for granted.
My mother would have considered anything other than salt, pepper, parsley, cinnamon and nutmeg exotic.
I hate to think how many open jars and bottles I have in the kitchen. Sumac anyone?

My daughter did that too when we moved here and were putting everything away in the larder cupboard. She is a stickler for sell by dates and I, most emphatically, am not good at throwing things out, so I suppose she did me a favour, but, as has been said, they are expensive to replace! My son gets his curry mixes from a shop near where he works; he tells them what meat and other ingredients he’s using and they make up a fresh spice mix. He says they work beautifully.

Solitaire BUT I had been refilling the same jars for years with fresh herbs and spices, because the jars all fitted neatly in to the many small drawers

I'm the same and I have this vision of my DD going through my cupboards when I'm old(er) and even more decrepit and being horrified at all these jars of very ancient spices, herbs etc. I'll have to stick a note on the drawer front or something

We need ground fenugreek for a particular recipe but I keep forgetting to look for it! Fenugreek seeds, when sprouted, have a very mild, spicy flavour but I find seeds for sprouting quite hard to come by. They used to be available at my local garden centre but not any more. Ordinary seeds for growing in the garden are often treated with fungicide so they're not suitable for sprouting.

Fenugreek is a superfood and really good for you

Fenugreek was suggested to me years ago as a remedy for blocked nose, you had to drink it stirred into hot water!

I have never used fenugreek. I try to keep my spices to a minimum number as they seem to go off before I use them all so there is a lot of waste. I only really use fresh herbs not dried as they are quite hard to digest.

My DS1 was here 6 months ago and had a clear-out of my cabinets. I think I did have some fenugreek until then. I have no idea what I used it for.

When I saw the title of the thread I thought it was about Men’s aftershave!!

I think 2005 is more like Old Spice rather than ‘ teen spice!’ ?

I hardly ever use these any more. When I first got married I really coveted a large spice/herb rack with lots of china pots - the blue and white was my favourite but I also hankered after the Portmeirion - couldn't decide which I liked best.
Roll forward the decades and I realised that all I really needed was salt, pepper, mixed herbs/ spice in four glass jars. If I want anything fresh there's chives and marjoram in the garden.

Sumac is nice sprinkled on thinly sliced very mild onions. These can be served as an accompaniment to any kind of kebab