Garam Masala

By Nicolas Ghirlando, December 6, 2016

This spice mix, key to much Indian cooking, is so easy to make.You can tailor it to have more cinnamon, fewer cloves, a pinch of chilli heat and so on, as you wish. It goes in at the beginning of cooking and at the end to finish a dish. It peps up scrambled or baked eggs and can go in a flatbread dough. It’s a real store cupboard essential here.
There must be as many recipes for garam masala as there are spices and combinations. Here’s mine.

Ingredients
1tbsp dill seeds
2tbsp coriander seeds
1tbsp green cardamom seeds
1 black cardamom
1 dried red chilli
1 cassia bark stick (about six cm)
1tbsp ajwain seeds
1tbsp black peppercorns
1tsp ground nutmeg
1tsp ground mace
1tbsp cumin seeds
1tsp black salt powder (or Maldon salt)

Method
Put all the spices in a heavy-based pan and heat for a few minutes until fragrant. Leave to cool and grind in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder until it becomes a fine powder. Store in an airtight jar and use as needed.