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Garam Masala

Mmmm.. The aroma of Garam masala just awakens all the senses, Its so delectable and flavorful. Garam masala is an Indian Spice Blend, that literally means Warm spices. Its called garam masala because it boosts the metabolism of your body, that’s good for you! Its often used to finish a dish and add that extra punch of flavor to your dishes and is an important spice blend addition to Indian cuisine. Each region and each family has their own version of making this masala and this is my family recipe.

Garam masala in a yellow bowl with spices around it.
What is garam masala?

Garam masala literally mean Hot or warm Spices. It is called as such because the spices boost your metabolism and makes it easier to digest food. Garam masala is not overly hot or spicy, its conveniently warm. It has warm and comforting flavors of cinnamon and cardamom and is not overpoweringly spiced. The whole intention of garam masala is to add flavor to the dish and that’s exactly what it does, it adds a punch of flavor and fragrance, believe me! Its added at the end of the recipes, so the aroma remains intact. In short, its fragrant, flavorful, warm, sweet, comforting and spicy masala that needs to be in your kitchen if you are serious about Indian food.

What are the health benefits of Garam Masala?

This flavorful spice blend has so many health benefits. It helps with digestion, has antioxidant properties, lowers blood pressure and enhances nutrient absorption by your body. The anti-inflammatory properties of the garam masala reduced inflammation, improve immunity and protect your nervous system.Garam masala in a yellow bowl with spices around it.

Why make it homemade?

You can definitely find it at stores or online, but making at home makes a ton of difference.
First, you can personalize as per your tastes and availability of spices. Not all spices work for everyone, its always good to personalize your food as per your body. My garam masala uses 10 spices to make this blend but it can be completely customized as per your taste.
Second, the store bought powders will most probably have more of coriander seeds and cumin seeds as base and less of the warm spices we need.
Third, homemade doesn’t have any additional adulterants and you can be sure of the quality of the product. Its so fresh and your whole house will smell so aromatic.

What ingredients are used to make Garam Masala?

As I said above, each family and region has their own recipe of garam masala. I believe garam masala is about the warmth rather than the spice. So, we concentrate on bringing more flavor and warmth to our recipes than just adding spice. As a result, we don’t have pepper or chilies or ginger in our recipe. Instead, its more of that warm spice flavor of cinnamon and cloves. I use 10 spices to make this blend, let’s see what ingredients I am using here:

1. Cinnamon
2. Star anise
3. Cardamom
4. Fennel Seeds
5. Nutmeg
6. Black Cumin or Shah Jeera
7. Mace/Javitri: Its the outer covering of nutmeg
8. Cloves
9. Coriander seeds
10. Kapok Buds or Marathi Moggu: Its a rare ingredient, please avoid if you cannot find it.

All the spices mentioned above are not only flavorful and aromatic, they have tons of nutritional benefits. They boost the metabolism and are anti- inflammatory and good for you, in general.Kapok buds, cloves, coriander seeds, mace, black cumin, fennel seeds, nutmeg, cardamom, star anise and cinnamon on a black board.

What is the substitute if I cant find all ingredients?

You can find all the ingredients these days on Amazon or Indian/International grocery stores but, don’t worry if you don’t have all the ingredients mentioned above. You can work with the basic ingredients and still achieve best results for your recipes. The basic ingredients we need are Cinnamon, cloves and Cardamom. The garam masala has so much depth of flavor with all the ingredients in my recipe but using only these 3 ingredients will work alright. You will find amazon links to all the ingredients in my recipe both above or in the recipe card below.

How to store the Garam Masala?

You can store this at room temperature for up to 6 months. Just save it in an airtight container like a mason jar and save it in a dry place in your kitchen.

What recipes use garam masala?

Here are some of the recipes on my blog which use garam masala:

How to make the garam masala?

Can you believe all you need is 5 minutes to make this life-changing masala? You just toast the masala spices until they are aromatic and then grind into powder.

  1. Heat a dry pan on medium heat. While its getting hot, add coriander seeds and toast for 30 seconds.
  2. Add cinnamon broken into pieces, crushed kapok buds, cloves, mace, star anise, cardamom, crushed nutmeg, black cumin and fennel seeds.
  3. Toast for 2 minutes until the spices are aromatic. Keep mixing the spices so they all get toasted evenly. Turn the heat off and let it cool down.
  4. Grind into a coarse powder and store in an airtight container.

Garam Masala

Garam masala in a yellow bowl with spices around it.

Flavorful, Warm and aromatic Indian spice blend

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Instructions

  1. Heat a dry pan on medium heat. While its getting hot, add coriander seeds and toast for 30 seconds.
  2. Add cinnamon, crushed kapok buds, cloves, mace, star anise, cardamom, crushed nutmeg, black cumin and fennel seeds.
  3. Toast for 2 minutes until the spices are aromatic. Keep mixing the spices so they all get toasted evenly. Turn the heat off and let it cool down.
  4. Grind into a coarse powder and store in an airtight container.

Notes

  1. Please refer to my pictures above for appropriate estimation of spices.
  2. Its totally okay to avoid some of the spices like kapok buds or mace. You can make garam masala with only cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. That will give you awesome results too.

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