I enjoy watching the Cooking Channel, because if I keep watching, I learn things. For instance, one day I watched Bal Arneson’s Indian cooking show, Spice Goddess, and first thing off I learned how to pronounce garam masala, and that it means “warming mixture”. While you’re there, you can watch how she makes garam masala out of whole spices toasted in the oven, which are then ground. You can almost smell it in the air.
If you don’t have time to use her simple method, I found this version somewhere on the web, which uses already-ground spices. Based on what’s in her mixture, this one is authentic, as well.
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
1 ½ teaspoons ground cardamom
1 ½ teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Mix all ingredients together, and store this wonderfully fragrant stuff in a jar until you need it.
(Original recipe makes 1 /4 cup.)
Recipes out of the Blond Box 