MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja- Garam Masala

Garam Masala

“No Life Without Spice” holds cent percent true for all us spicy Indians. No Spice No Life- Masaale ke bina Jeena bhi koi Jeena Hai? We can hardly swallow our food without our much loved ingredient- the spice. My romance with masala started long ago right in my childhood in Kolhapur where I spent my initial years. Kolhapur can be called the hotbed of masala making. Kolhapuri Kala Masala is world famous. I remember how much excitement was generated when the household set out to make masala. The whole family was involved at some point or the other- choosing and buying the best spices, cleaning of grinding stones, preparation of jars for storage, drying the spices in the sun, roasting of spices, the heady fragrances, pounding and grinding and all fanfare. I can go on and on. The magic spell of spices has been cast on us forever.

The Bollywood Movies will also not sell if they do not have the appropriate “Masala”. One lovely movie Mirch Masala is based on spices, worth a watch. Another good one is The Mistress of Spices, totally based on magic of spices. Do listen to the song “Teri Aankhein Garam Masala” as I give you my Garam Masala recipe.

This recipe is an amalgamation of my grandmothers’ recipes, both, paternal and maternal. Do not worry if you are unable to get dagadphool and nagkesar. The masala will still taste as good.

I use this masala for all my vegetables and meat dishes too. It is a multipurpose spice powder.

Ingredients:

Cumin- 100 gms

Coriander Seeds- 100 gms

 Black Cardamom (Badi Elaichi) – 40 gms

Cinamon- 40 gms

Cloves- 40 gms

Black Pepper- 25 gms

Green Cardamom- 20 gms

Bay Leaves- 10 gms

Mace – 10 gms

Nutmeg- 1 no

Dry ginger- 10 gms

Caraway Seeds (Shahi Jeera)- 10 gms

Star Anise ( Masala/Chakri Phool)- 10 gms

Lichen (dagad phool/ kalpasi)- 10 gms

Nagkesar- 10 gms

Sesame Seeds- 75 gms

Poppy Seeds- 75 gms

Method:

Dry roast all the ingredients lightly one by one separately. Keep the roasted poppy seeds and sesame seeds separately. Grind the rest of the ingredients in a dry grinder to a fine powder. Grind the sesame and poppy seeds separately in the chutney jar as they tend to get oily. Finally mix all together and grind well to form a fine powder. Now sieve the garam masala powder through a suji sieve. Store it in a clean air tight jar.

This garam masala stays on for a year plus.