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Garam Masala

Seasoning Garam Masala

Seasoning Garam Masala

Garam masala is a typical Indian condiment that contains many spices including black and white pepper, cinnamon, cumin, Indian bay leaf, fennel, mace, cardamom, coriander and many more. As with other well-known seasonings consisting of many spices, garam masala does not have an exact recipe for preparation, there are only sets of basic ingredients from which garam masala is made. The name garam masala itself is translated from the Indian language as a spicy mixture, and the word spiciness does not mean the high content of hot pepper in this seasoning, but its high saturation with spices.

Using Garam Masala in Cooking

Garam masala seasoning originated from India and is widely used in cooking in various countries - India and Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Caribbean. It is impossible to imagine traditional Indian or Pakistani cuisine without the use of this seasoning. But garam masala is popular not only in this region - its use has spread all over the world, and many chefs use garam masala not only to prepare traditional Indian and other regional dishes, but also add it to other dishes, creating new and new culinary masterpieces.

Composition of Indian Seasoning Garam Masala

Although the exact composition of garam masala seasoning does not exist in nature, since, like other similar seasonings, it is made from many spices that can be added, removed or replaced with their counterparts for various reasons, ranging from the characteristics of the technology of production of this seasoning and regional traditions specific manufacturer, to the individual preferences of the cook.

But the set of basic spices that are part of garam masala is known - this spice usually includes:

Some ingredients of garam masala are available all over the world, some are quite rare spice, like macis flower, and some are not available at all outside the region of their growth, like Indian bay leaf, which is the leaves of one of the varieties of cinnamon tree.

How to Make Garam Masala at Home

Given the unavailability of some ingredients and the lack of information about the proportions of spices in garam masala, the original recipe for this seasoning can hardly be repeated at home. But if you exclude inaccessible ingredients, which is quite allowed by the garam masala cooking technology, and mix the available spices in the proportions you like, then at home it is quite possible to cook one of the varieties of this Indian seasoning. To cook garam masala, spices are first roasted and then ground and mixed. When choosing the proportions of the ingredients of graram masala, it must be remembered that the resulting spice can have a different degree of spiciness, which hot pepper gives it, but not the spiciness, but the taste and aroma of other spices that make up the garam masala should prevail.