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Cloves are one of the spices indigenous to Asian countries like Indonesia, India, Pakistan, and even areas of East Africa. It is native to the Maluku islands in Indonesia. They are a popular flavoring agent used in a variety of ways across the world, particularly in Asia. Cloves form the culinary base in a number of different Asian cuisines.

Clove has been used for thousands of years in India and China not only as a spice and condiment but also as a medicine for many ailments. Ayurvedic medicine used cloves for tooth decay, halitosis, and bad breath. In Chinese medicine, clove was considered to possess aphrodisiac properties.

Cloves can be used in their whole form or in a ground up form. They can be used in dishes that include poultry or meat and you can add a pinch to most any meal. While a whole clove might be a bit much to handle in a casserole, dessert or stew, the ground version can add a bit of aromatic zip without interfering with the texture.

Cloves are also a key ingredient in many spice mixtures made for use in the kitchen. In fact, the popular Chinese Five Spices has cloves as one of its ingredients. Cloves are also an ingredient of curry powder, widely used in Indian cooking. It is also a key ingredient in Moroccan ras el hanout, Garam Masala and even the French have a use for it in their quatre pieces. You can even find cloves in unexpected places such as Worcestershire sauce.

Cloves are very popular in Pakistani cuisine and North Indian cooking uses cloves in almost every side dish or sauce that they make. Typically, you will find them used ground along with other spices. Cloves are also commonly found in various tea blends.

How To Store:

An airtight glass or plastic container is the best to store cloves, whether in the whole or powder form. The whole buds should be kept in a cool, dark and dry place. They should be hand milled, whenever required. In case of powder cloves, they should be placed inside the refrigerator. The powdered clove should be utilized as soon as possible as the flavor of the powdered form is lost quickly than that of the whole buds.