Garam Masala

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5 from 5 votes

A versatile spice mixture used in many Indian dishes, garam masala is known to some as "curry"

Prep Time5

Cook Time5

Total Time10

Course: Spice Mixtures

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: garam masala, spices

Servings:

Calories: 4kcal

Equipment

Spice or Coffee Grinder

Ingredients

3 Tbsp cumin seeds
3 Tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cardamom seeds remove the green shell and use just the black seeds
1 Tbsp black peppercorns
1 tsp cloves
2 inch piece of cinnamon stick
3 bay leaves
1 star anise
1 tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp nutmeg
1 mace
1 to 2 dried red chilies (optional)

Instructions

Toss all the spices onto a dry pan and heat over medium heat. Stir often.
Heat until you start to smell the aroma of the spices and they start to turn golden brown about 5 minutes. Watch very carefully that the spices don’t burn. Constant stirring is important.
Once the spices are toasted, separate out the nutmeg. Use a microplane or fine grinder to grate the nutmeg. (You can toss it into the spice grinder but every time I do, it makes so much noise that I’m afraid my grinder will break so I just grate the nutmeg separately and add it in later).
Grind the the rest of the spices using either a spice grinder, clean coffee grinder or morter and pestle.
Add in the grated nutmeg. Mix well.

Video

Notes

Garam masalas vary extensively, if you do not have all of the ingredients, you can leave some out and still have an authentic garam masala. Any combination of star anise, mace, and fennel seed can be left out for a simpler garam masala.

Until recently, I’ve always included dried red chili in my garam masala. Today, I tend to leave it out to better control the heat of my recipes to suit the tastes of my young child.

Nutrition