Spiced Snake Beans with Peanuts

Use the same weight; top and tail, cut to the same length. Cooks 2–3 minutes faster, so check sooner.

Use the same weight; same preparation. Slightly softer and quicker to cook.

Use the same weight; cut and simmer 5 minutes longer. Firmer and more textured.

Use 100% of the weight. If the original recipe relies on salted table butter, add a pinch of salt to balance.

Use 80% to 85% of the weight. Ghee is pure butterfat with moisture removed; it yields a deeper, nuttier flavour and handles high heat better.

Use 80% of the weight for frying or tempering. The dish loses sweet dairy richness but remains glossy and light.

Use 75% of the weight. Fry in hot oil or ghee; has a sharper, more pronounced liquorice flavour, so use a lighter hand.

Use 60% of the weight. Stir into the sauce with ground masalas; provides identical sweet aniseed flavour without whole seed crunch.

Use one point (single carpel) per 1 g of fennel seeds. Simmer in gravies and remove before serving; gives a deeper, woodier liquorice aroma.

Use 70% of the weight; add with ground spices or sauce bases rather than hot oil tempering, where it scorches quickly and turns bitter.

Use equal weight for oil tempering. Delivers an earthy profile with an additional musky, smoky, and slightly bitter edge.

Use 60% of the weight for tempering; offers comparable warm aroma, but leans sweet and liquorice-like rather than savoury and earthy.

Use equal weight. Imparts an earthy, slightly bitter note in temperings, though it lacks nigella's oniony sharpness.

Use equal weight. Gives a similar speckled appearance and light crunch on breads, but provides a nutty rather than herbaceous, onion-like flavour.

Use 50% of the weight, crush or grind. Sharper heat and less maple-bitter; fry briefly in oil before adding.

Use the same weight, crush lightly. Similar bitter-seed note but more aniseed; reduce other sweet spices slightly.

Use 25–30% of the weight, crush. Much stronger thyme-like flavour; do not overdo.

Use the same weight. The seeds are smaller and hotter; fry in hot oil until they pop, about 20–30 seconds, and reduce the heat if they darken too fast. The dish will be a little sharper.

Use the same weight. They are milder and larger; fry a few seconds longer until they pop. The finished dish will have less pungency.

Use 70% of the weight of whole seed, added with the other ground spices rather than fried whole. You lose the popping texture and the heat comes through more evenly.

Use equal weight whole. Fry in hot oil or ghee as tempered spice; gives a richer red colour with slightly milder heat.

Use 50% to 70% of the weight. Stir into the oil with ground spices; distributes heat evenly throughout the dish without whole chilli skins.

Dry-roast raw peanuts until spotted and fragrant; use the same weight.

Roast and rub off skins; use the same weight.

Use the same weight for a milder crunch; less earthy, so adjust salt.