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Thursday, March 25, 2010

Garam Masala - A Marathi Way Of Making It.

Garam Masala Powder is a blend of various spices, that is dry roasted to release the aroma of the spices and then powdered. This is stored in air tight containers, so that the aroma of the spice mix is not lost. Garam masala powder is used in a dish towards the end of the cooking, when the dish is almost done, so that the aroma of the powder is not lost. Making of garam masala powder differ from region to region and as per one's requirement to a particular dish. Here is a spice blend, given to me by a maharastrian lady, who uses this garam masala powder in her chicken curry, sabzi and other maharastrian dishes that she prepares.

Ingredients

2 tbsp - Coriander seeds
2tbsp - Black pepper corns
2 tbsp - Fennel seeds
1 tbsp - Cloves
1 tsp - Shah jeera
4 big sticks - Cinnamon
2 to 3 - Mace /Javitri
6 - Bay leaves
5 - Big black cardamom
2 - Star anise
1 to 2 tbsp - Khus khus / poppy seeds

Method

1 ) In a heavy kadai / pan, add the all the ingredients listed except khus-khus. On a low heat stir and dry roast the spices. The spices will release it's aroma and will turn lightly brown. Turn the stove off, transfer the spices into a plate to cool. Now add khus khus to hot pan and let it warm up in the heat of the pan. If needed place pan on low heat till khus-khus turn light brown. Take off stove and cool.

2 ) Once cool, transfer to a coffee grinder or a good blender that can powder the ingredients well.
Transfer the powder into a air tight container.


Now an homemade garam masala powder is ready to be used in any dish that calls for this spice blend to flavor and spice up the taste buds, with its aromatic flavors.

10 comments:

Namitha said...

Perfect blend of spices. Never made this Gujarathi version.Thanks Pravs !

Latha said...

Very aromatic garam masala. Thanks for sharing.

Suparna said...

This seems much easier than the punjabi garam masala...Tks for sharing the Marathi version... I love amti kind of taste.. so this would be great too :)
TC

Sushma Mallya said...

i was searching for a nice recipe for home made garam masala and your recipe seems perfect for it...lovely spices,very flavourful and must be great when used..thanks for sharing pravs

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing this one. Home-made garam masalas was something that I was looking for. The click is very good Pravs!

Parita said...

Thanks for your sweet comment on my blog, i love home made garam masalas but i dont usually make it at home since i dont have a powerful grinder, but its so much better than the readymade ones!

Unknown said...

is this wat you call black masala?

Pravs said...

Anupama : No this is not black masala. Just garam masala.

catalina said...

Thanks for this recipe. I wonder if I would replace shahi jeera with regular cumin it would change too much the recipe's taste.

Pravs said...

catalina : Each jeera has its own flavor and taste. But then the regular jeera is popularly used ..so give it try.