Garam Masala (1)
Jun 1st, 2008 by admin
Garam masala is a blend of ground spices common in the Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani cuisine, whose literal meaning is ‘hot (or warm) spice’. Garam masala is used in cooking, but unlike many spices, it is often added at the end of cooking, so that the full aroma is not lost. It is not “hot” in the sense that chillies are, but it is fairly pungent. Garam refers to temperature hot, where the word tekha describes heat of chilis.
Ingredients:
There are many variants, the most traditional mixes use just cinnamon, roasted cumin, caraway seeds, cloves, nutmeg (and/or mace) and green and/or black cardamom.
Many commercial mixtures may include more of other less expensive spices and may contain dried red chili peppers, dried garlic, ginger powder, sesame, mustard seeds, turmeric, coriander, bay leaves, star anise and fennel.
While commercial garam masala preparations can be bought ready ground, the blends do not keep well in time and soon lose their aroma. Whole spices, which keep fresh much longer, can be ground when needed using a mortar and pestle or electric coffee grinder.
