How to make your own garam masala

Posted by Sarah Duff on 28 July 2011

On a cooking course weekend with Reza Mahammad at African Relish, the celebrity chef explained to us that we shouldn’t be buying store-bought spice mixes as they don’t have nearly as much flavour as freshly-ground spices. Here’s his recipe for homemade garam masala.

Reza says: ‘Although the term ‘garam masala’ means hot spices, it is actually a combination of several aromatically warming spices which have been dry roasted into a fine powder.’

Ingredients

8 bay leaves, dried
6-9 (5cm) cinnamon sticks
50g coriander seeds
50g cumin seeds
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp cloves
2 tbsp green cardamom pods
4-6 whole black cardamom pods
4-6 star anise
8-10 blades mace
1-2 tbsp dried pink rose petals

Dry roast all the spices in a wide pad for 5-7 minutes, then allow to cool. Grind in a coffee grinder to a very fine powder. Store in an airtight container in a dark place.

Recipe by Reza Mahammad

Photo by FotoosVanRobin

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