Garam Masala Recipe: Best Spice In The Indian Kitchen

Garam Masala is quite an essential Indian spice mix added to Indian food daily. A homemade garam masala adds a lot of flavors, sweet fragrance, lovely taste, warmness in everyday Indian dishes, and some unique dishes for the occasional meals.

Garma Masala is a complex and aromatic flavored blend of multiple Indian spices. Hindi word “Garam” means ‘Hot’ and the word “Masala” means a blend of spices. Hence, the term garam masala means a warming spice blend.

Thus, adding this spice blend to your food makes your body warm and increases your body’s metabolism. The spices added to this mix are suitable for the stomach as they have both digestive and medicinal properties.

Garam Masala is known for its fantastic flavors with solid fragrances. It will add magic to your everyday meals. I suggest adding this garam masala ¼ to ½ teaspoon to any dish for 4 to 5 servings, and you will see a difference for sure. The spices or ingredients for this are easily available online as well as in any Indian grocery store.

Here I share a recipe that comes from my mom’s kitchen and gives you the perfect garam masala to add to your most recipes for a great taste. When you get a lot of praises from your near and dear ones, you won’t be able to stop making this again and again.

Ingredients:

½ cup cumin
¼ cup coriander
¼ cup funnel
Two tablespoons caraway
Two tablespoons mace
Ten cinnamon sticks
Ten bay leaves
Two tablespoons clove
Ten green cardamom
Ten black cardamom
Two teaspoons black pepper
One nutmeg
Two tablespoons ginger powder or 3-4 dried ginger
Ten dried rose petals (optional)

This recipe yields about 200 grams of Garam Masala. The ingredient proportions in the recipe can be easily halved or doubled.

Procedure:

First of all, take each spice on a plate one by one and check thoroughly for stone, husks, or insects. Discard the impurities if you find any. If the spices have insects or worms, then discard the spices and do not use them.
Dry roast each spice separately (as the roasting time is different for different spices) in a pan on low heat. Roast till you feel that it is slightly aromatic and moist-free. It will become somewhat crisp too. Do not over-roast the spices. Make sure that none of them get brown.
If you are putting some dried rose petals, then add them without roasting. You can skip if you do not have rose petals, as this is entirely optional.
Before you start grinding the whole spices, take the complex or big-sized spices like nutmeg or dried ginger in a mortar-pestle and crush it coarsely. Break the cinnamon before adding it.
Take a dry grinder jar and shift all the whole spices in it. Grind all the spices to a smooth powder in 2-3 batches according to the jar’s capacity. Mostly, I ground all the masala in one run. If you are grinding in batches, then collect the masala powder in a bowl and mix well before storing it in a jar.
You can sieve this powder if you want.
Spread it on a plate to allow it to cool down. Then store the powder in a clean glass jar.
Your garam masala is ready to use.

Some Important Tips

First, take all the spices on a plate one by one. Check if they have some impurities like stones or husks. This step is important as these spices can sometimes have some impurities, and you will want to avoid them.
Please make sure there are no insects as well as hidden mold or fungi growing on them. If yes, then discard these spices as these may cause some health issues.
Always try to make this masala in small quantities as the aroma may wane out with time.
Do not use old spices. Use fresh spices for a good aroma and taste.
While using cinnamon, use the true cinnamon (Ceylon cinnamon) and not cassia, as cinnamon has many health benefits over cassia.