Garam Masala
There are a million and one variations to garam masala so feel free to adjust this to your liking, but roasting whole spices and then grinding them up fresh makes for a much more aromatic and delicious masala than the store-bought versions.
Home-made Garam Masala
Ingredients:
1/4 cup coriander seeds
1/4 cup cumin seeds
2 tbsp Elachi/ green cardamom pods
2 whole black cardamoms
2 tbsp black peppercorns
2 tbsp whole cloves
1 tbsp fennel seeds
3-4 star anise
4, 1 inch cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
1/2 of a freshly ground nutmeg
1 small piece of dried ginger or 1 tsp of ground ginger
1/4 cup coriander seeds
1/4 cup cumin seeds
2 tbsp Elachi/ green cardamom pods
2 whole black cardamoms
2 tbsp black peppercorns
2 tbsp whole cloves
1 tbsp fennel seeds
3-4 star anise
4, 1 inch cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
1/2 of a freshly ground nutmeg
1 small piece of dried ginger or 1 tsp of ground ginger
Method:
- Add all of the spices, other than the ginger and nutmeg to a skillet on low/medium heat. Stir constantly and do not let anything burn, do this for a good few minutes until all the spice become nice and fragrant. Do not raise the heat to speed up this process because you will burn the spices!
- Turn off the heat and add the nutmeg and ginger then let cool.
- Once tte spices are cooled, grind them a few spoonfuls at a time in a coffee/spice grinder and then sift it to make sure not of the larger pieces end up in the masala. You may want to sift this a second time once everything is ground up in order to make sure that everything has been incorporated.
You can store the garam masala in an airtight container for about 6 months or so before it starts to lose it’s freshness. This recipe makes approximately 1 cup of garam masala.
