Garam masala

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Garam masala is a blend of ground spices common in the Indian, Bangali and Pakistani cuisine, whose literal meaning is 'hot (or warm) spice'. There are many variants: most traditional mixes use just cinnamon, roasted cumin, caraway seeds, cloves, nutmeg (and/or mace) and green cardamom pods or black cardamom pods. Many commercial mixtures may include more of other less expensive spices and may contain dried red chili peppers, dried garlic, ginger powder, sesame seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, coriander, bay leaves, star anise and fennel.

It can be added to recipes where required or added directly to the food as one would add salt and pepper.

Ingredients

• ½ oz black cumin
• ½ oz white cumin
• 3 oz coriander seeds
• 1 ½ oz cardamom seeds (removed from the pods)
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 oz cloves
• 2 oz peppercorns
• ½ oz nutmeg
• ½ oz ground mace
• 1 ½ oz cinnamon strips

Method

1. Grind ingredients in a coffee grinder
2. Mix well
3. Store in an airtight jar, preferably out of the light

Variations

Adjust to your taste