The choice of a good garam masala powder is a matter of personal taste and liking, some like it hot, strong and pungent, while some like the mild simple garam masala recipe like the one I posted earlier which is best for every day cooking and is suitable to all including kids without leaving us dehydrated.
Ingredients
- ½ cup coriander seeds / daniya
- ¼ cup cumin seeds / jeera
- 2 tablespoons small green cardamoms/ elaichi
- 2 to 8 black cardamom s(Black elaichi)
- 2 tablespoons cloves (laung)
- 1 tablespoon pepper corns (Kali Mirch)
- 6 to 8 sticks of cinnamon, approx. 2 inch (Dar Chini)
- 4 large or 6 to 8 medium bay leaves (Teejh Pat / Tezz Patta)
- 1 small nutmeg (Jaifal)
- 1 star anise (Badiyan Ka Phool) optional
- 3 to 4 strands of mace (Javitri) optional
Garam Masala Recipe
- Clean the bay leaf and inner part of cinnamon stick with a dry or damp cloth to remove dirt and larvae.
- Break open the nutmeg and check for worms.
- Pick and discard stones and debris from all the spices.
- Sundry them in hot sun for a day or dry roast them one after the other without burning till you get a nice aroma.
- Transfer to a wide plate and cool thoroughly.
- Powder finely in a blender.
- Sieve and powder the coarse spices again and repeat the sieve. Discard or add the coarse particles of spices to your tea powder.
- Store this garam masala powder in an air tight, sun dried glass jar.
The color of the garam masala may differ depending on the kind and quality of spices.
Black cardamoms give a very pungent flavor and taste, if you are not used to the strong flavor it can be reduced to two.
