Garam Masala

Spices are considered 'prized possessions' in some households. Each delivering its unique taste that completely changes the taste of the dish it is a component of. When combined the right way they burst in your palate with flavours leaving behind a memory to cherish. 

Considered as a form of exchange for goods and services in the olden days, spices have played a major role in not only flavoring food, but also as the status of an individual based on the spices they possessed in their households. Vanilla in those days was considered to be more expensive than gold. Pepper was accepted as a form of payment for the exchange of textiles, skilled labour and many such things.

Over centuries, people have experimented with the flavours of spices giving a unique and transcendent experience with each recipe that is made. A simple cut of meat just grilled over a fire will be absolutely milk and water; but when it is marinated with a blend of spices, the meat absorbs all the flavour, accentuating the taste and leaving the senses in utter bliss when chowed down.

Indians have stamped their authority in the world of spices, having their own blends for each recipe. We use everything from the common mustard seeds and cumin seeds to the most unusual of spices like rose petals, star anise, etc. Well actually nothing is unusual in terms of spices because Indian cuisine varies so much from one region to another that all the spices are used in some recipe or the other. 

Garam Masala is a very important component of Indian kitchen and most households have their own recipe they are very proud of. Some are so secretive that they even keep their recipe under lock and key. A very versatile tool of Indian cooking, Garam Masala has many variations as we go from North to South and is used in most dishes in these regions. Blends could include basic components to the most lavish concoctions that flavour a number of dishes.

This recipe, to me, is all about the balance of flavours and the intricacy of each component. A good Garam Masala is something that has a balance between sweet, spice and savoury. Depending on what spices you have at home, you can make any kind of a blend as long as you maintain a good balance between these three flavours. Also a very important step is to DRY ROAST the spices before you blend them together. This basically activates all the oils and, for the lack of a better word- 'flavour molecules' in the spices and really elevates the taste once blended.

Sweet components really make the dish pop and add a little bit of elegance to the flavour of the garam masala. These could include cardamom, cloves, star anise, cinnamon, fennel seeds, desiccated coconut  and rose petals.

Spice components such as black pepper, dried red chillies and white pepper or any kind of dried chilli really elevate the flavour in terms of packing a punch and taste. Also, the quantity of this will have to be controlled based on the kind of heat you want.

Savoury components, to me make up the body of the garam masala and play a very important role in the flavour. These include mustard seeds, coriander seeds, sesame, cumin, onion seeds, ajowain (caraway seeds), fenugreek seeds, dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi), bay leaves, nutmeg, mace, etc. 

This ratio can be altered depending on the kind of dish you want to make. For example, the famous cuisine of the Chettinad region, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, uses a lot of spice components in most of its curries, the most famous being Chicken Chettinad. It uses a whole lot of red chillies in its spice blend to give the curry a fierce, spicy flavour.  

Garam Masala can be prepared fresh for a certain recipe or made in advance that could cater to a larger variety of dishes. So keeping in mind this intricate balance of flavours, here is MY recipe for Garam Masala that can be used in most Indian curries, dry meat rubs, marination, etc. 

Do comment your thoughts and ideas in the comments below and share and subscribe so that I can make more such recipes for you'll. 

Ingredients

- 2 tsp coriander seeds

- 1 tsp mustard seeds

- 1 tsp cumin seeds

- 1 tsp kalonji (Nigella seeds)

- 1.5 tsp fenugreek seeds

- about 1.5 inch stick of cinnamon

- 2 pieces of mace

- 4 cardamom pods, broken open

- 5-6 cloves

- 2 pieces of star anise

- 1 tsp turmeric powder

- 1 tsp chilli powder

- a pinch of asafoetida

- 1 tsp dry mango powder (amchoor powder)

- a pinch of salt

- 1.5 tsp black pepper powder

How to make Garam Masala

• Start off by adding all the ingredients except the powders into a frying pan (This is because the powders will burn owing to their larger surface area when exposed to the heat, I mean they tend to burn faster than whole spices). 
• Over a medium high heat, keeping a constant vigilance, dry roast the whole spices till you hear them pop and splutter- about 2-3 minutes. A good visual indicator is when the fenugreek seeds turn dark brown.
• Transfer the whole spices into a plate to cool. 
• Add in the rest of the ingredients- turmeric powder, chilli powder, dry mango powder, asafoetida, salt and pepper.
• Combine and transfer to a grinder.
• Grind till you get a fine powder.
• Pass through a sieve and store in an airtight container.
• If kept in the right conditions this will work for a couple of months easily.