The literal meaning of garam masala is hot spices. Not hot as in spicy, but hot as in warming the body. You can buy ready made garam masala in the shops, but first of all the fragrance can never be as nice and aromatic as home made. And secondly, those mixtures tend to have less of the more expensive spices and more of the less expensive. Or even spices that traditionally shouldn’t be in there! Things linke dried garlic, ginger powder, coriander and god knows what else. That’s why I like to make my own.
With an old coffeegrinder it’s really a piece of cake. Although getting the cardemom-seeds out of the pods can be a bit of a pain. The quantity of garam masala I normally make depends on how quickly I’m fed up with peeling the cardemompods. This time it was after collecting a teaspoonful.
RECIPE
1 t cardemomseeds
½ t black peppercorns
½ t cloves
½ t black cumin
1 t freshly grounded nutmeg
2 cm cinnamin stick
Put in your coffeegrinder and grind as fine as possible.
Save mixture in an airtight little container.
Lovely for making galavat kebabs (spiced lamb meatballs).
It’s not easy to photograph powders, but you’ve made it! the garam masala in your last photo looks beautiful.
Just to let you know, that worked out lovely. By the way, here’s a clip showing Madhur Jaffrey making her garam masala.