Garam Masala
One of the essential ingredients in an Indian kitchen is garam masala. If you eat south Indian food only you may not need it often. I tend to use it in sabjis, gravies or even pulavs. I used to buy readymade garam masala from the store but there came a point when they were infested with tiny bugs so I took that as my excuse to spend some time making my own masala. After looking at a number of recipes online, I finally chose to follow Tarla Dalal’s Punjabi Garam masala. The quantities specified in the book was too much for me so I scaled it down so I could make the powder for say about 2-3 months of cooking. What I noticed with home made garam masala was that you need far less quantity than store bought masala. For some dishes, I have used just couple of pinches and enjoyed the flavours coming through. So the said quantity will come a long way. Each one makes their blend differently, for instance you could add a small piece of javatri, some black pepper corn . You could use this as your basic recipe and try to add ingredients to your taste. This is one recipe that will have to do without pictures for now as I did not take any and do not intend to make another batch in the next couple of months. I still wanted to post the recipe as I have had quite a few people ask for it.
¼ cup cumin seeds
1/8 cup coriander seeds
1 tablespoon cloves
4-5 cinnamon sticks
4-5 bay leaves
1 teaspoon caraway seeds/aniseeds/saunf
2 tablespoon cardamom pods
½ teaspoon dry ginger powder
Roast all ingredients except the dry ginger powder until they are all aromatic. Ensure the flame is low so they get roasted well. Breakdown cinnamon sticks to small pieces so they are all of similar size and do not over or under roast. Cool and grind to powder along with dry ginger powder
Store in an airtight container and use as required
One of the essential ingredients in an Indian kitchen is garam masala. If you eat south Indian food only you may not need it often. I tend to use it in sabjis, gravies or even pulavs. I used to buy readymade garam masala from the store but there came a point when they were infested with tiny bugs so I took that as my excuse to spend some time making my own masala. After looking at a number of recipes online, I finally chose to follow Tarla Dalal’s Punjabi Garam masala. The quantities specified in the book was too much for me so I scaled it down so I could make the powder for say about 2-3 months of cooking. What I noticed with home made garam masala was that you need far less quantity than store bought masala. For some dishes, I have used just couple of pinches and enjoyed the flavours coming through. So the said quantity will come a long way. Each one makes their blend differently, for instance you could add a small piece of javatri, some black pepper corn . You could use this as your basic recipe and try to add ingredients to your taste. This is one recipe that will have to do without pictures for now as I did not take any and do not intend to make another batch in the next couple of months. I still wanted to post the recipe as I have had quite a few people ask for it.
¼ cup cumin seeds
1/8 cup coriander seeds
1 tablespoon cloves
4-5 cinnamon sticks
4-5 bay leaves
1 teaspoon caraway seeds/aniseeds/saunf
2 tablespoon cardamom pods
½ teaspoon dry ginger powder
Roast all ingredients except the dry ginger powder until they are all aromatic. Ensure the flame is low so they get roasted well. Breakdown cinnamon sticks to small pieces so they are all of similar size and do not over or under roast. Cool and grind to powder along with dry ginger powder
Store in an airtight container and use as required
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