How to use old spicesImage Credit source: Getty Images
Indian kitchen is incomplete without spices. There is a different combination of spices for every dish. Even people have special recipes and these special spices make our food tasty, but sometimes the spices become very old and if not stored properly, their aroma gets reduced, their color fades and the taste can also get reduced. If this happens to you too, what do you do? Most people would throw away these spices, but these spices are used for many purposes other than eating.
Spices are rich in taste and aroma as well as medicinal properties. Although generally the shelf life of spices is quite good, but if mistakes are made in storage, they can spoil quickly due to dampness and moisture. In such a situation, you should know in which things you can use old spices.
Make your home fragrant
You can use old spices to spread a pleasant aroma in your home. For this, put spices like cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves in water and boil it. It spreads a very nice fragrance. After this you can keep this water at different places in the house.
make potpourri
You can make a potpourri by mixing some herbs with old spices. This also fills your house with fragrance. You should take spices like rosemary, mint, cardamom, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon. Apart from this, take some flowers of your choice (these should be dry). Apart from all these things, you will need orris root. Put all these things in a bowl and mix them. Now make this mixture in small bowls and keep it at different places. This keeps a mild fragrance in the house.
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Plants will remain healthy
Often there is a problem of pest attack on plants in the garden. To avoid this, old spices can be very useful for you. You can make a mixture of turmeric, chilli and dry spices, grind it and make powder and sprinkle it on the plants. Apart from this, add it little by little to the soil. This will also provide nutrition to the soil. In this way, pests or any kind of infection will remain away from the plants and growth will also improve.
Scent your wardrobe
You can make your clothes and bookcases fragrant. For example, you fill cinnamon in small cloth pouches and keep them in the bookcase. This will start giving off a nice aroma. Dry the mint, add some coriander and fennel and make a sachet. You can keep it in the clothes cupboard, due to which a light cool and fresh aroma is felt.
remove carpet odor
You can also remove the smell of carpet in your house with old spices. For this, mix one part baking soda and one part spices. Avoid chilli. Sprinkle this powder on the carpet and leave it for at least 30 minutes. After this you have to clean with a vacuum cleaner. This removes the smell from your carpet.
get rid of cockroaches
Cockroaches can spread diseases in the house and make your house look unhygienic. You can get rid of cockroaches by using old spices. You can grind spices like bay leaves, black pepper, red chilli powder and make powder and then keep it in the places where cockroaches come. Due to this the cockroaches gradually run away.
