Garam Masala

You can get pre-made garam-masala, but I really, really don't recommend it. The flavors will be dull and muted at best, and off at worst - heck, I wouldn't wish that on my enemies (ok, that isn't quite true, it would be quite an exquisite punishment).
If you've got the basic ingredients however, it really is quite easy to make.

You're going to need the following

4 tbsp coriander seeds
3 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp cloves
8" of cinnamon (I'm assuming these are the rolled up sticks)
3 tsp black peppercorns
1 "strip" of mace (basically, what looks like 1 blade)
1 tsp of grated nutmeg
30 cardamoms, seeds thereof
1/2 tsp salt 

Don't worry about getting the amounts exactly right - as long as you're reasonably close, you're good.

Lightly roast each of the above, one at time, in a flat-bottomed skillet over a medium flame. How done is "done"? You want each spice to give off a bit of a toasted aroma. If it smokes, you went too far, if you only went 10 seconds, it isn't enough.  Somewhere in the middle.
There really isn't a better way to explain. Just taste each one when you think it's done - if it still tastes "raw", you can give it more time...

Once they're all done, let them cool, grind them all into a fine powder. I use a re-purposed coffee-grinder for this - they work spectacularly well! (Don't make coffee again though, it'll taste...interesting)

To store, put it in an air-tight container (or ziploc bag) in the freezer - it'll last many many months!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Cannonball Tree!

Erlang, Binaries, and Garbage Collection (Sigh)

Visualizing Prime Numbers