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Question
Hi if a sfardi adds lots of spices (such as hot paprika, curry, cumin etc) and a little bit of oil in the dough when making the bread is it mezonot or hamotzie? There is nothing sweet added. Just spicy. Please add the source to the answer, thanks so much!
Answer
Shalom U'vracha,
The bracha to make here is 'hamotzi'.
Explanation: The Shulchan Aruch (168:7) writes that if someone adds honey, milk, oil, or spices to dough and he tastes its flavor in the dough- then the bracha is 'borei minei mezonot' (unless he makes an entire meal of it 'koveah seuda'). According to the Rama, the bracha would be 'mezonot' but only if the flavor is tasted very much. Otherwise, it would be 'hamotzi'.
However, this is referring to sweet spices that change the taste of the dough from the category of bread to a type of cake and a dessert. When it comes to those spices that you mentioned, the dough is still considered bread that people use for a meal and not for a snack. Therefore, the bracha is hamotzi, (unless it is made in a way that changes it's purpose completely and turns it into a dessert).
Sources: See the Mishna Berura's explanation of the Shulchan Aruch (168:30), Rav Moshe Levi's book 'Birkat Hashem' (part 2, page 138, comment 53), Penenei Halakha- Harchavot (6:6).
All the best

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