Aarti's Hot (Not Heavy!) Homemade Garam Masala

Serves: 5

Roxane Raynor

1 January 1970

Based on User reviews:

56

Spice

45

Sweetness

63

Sourness

47

mins

Prep time (avg)

4.4

Difficulty

Ingredients:

3 tbsps

Whole Cloves

Directions:

1

Add the green cardamom seeds, cloves, black cardamom seeds and cinnamon sticks to a spice/coffee grinder and grind until fine

2

Store in an airtight container away from direct sunlight

3

Most garam masalas contain cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and black peppercorns

4

Some folks add cumin and coriander, but I don't like the earthy flavour they add

5

And in fact, if you buy yours at the supermarket, it will not only contain cumin and coriander, it will also contain a bunch of other things

6

HOWEVER, it probably won't contain very much cardamom, cloves or cinnamon

7

That's because

8

Those are the expensive ones! So what you're buying is a lot of stale filler! I have nothing against it in a pinch, or if you're just starting out and don't know if this spice blend is for you

9

But if you can't find it at the supermarket, or if you're ready for the real thing, try my version

10

I don't use black peppercorns, but if you like, you can add a teaspoon or so

11

It doesn't take very long to make a batch; the only thing that's annoying about it is getting all the little black seeds out of the green cardamom pods

12

Use a pestle to crush the little beauties open, and discard the husks, or simply buy the seeds