Today I’m sharing with you my mother’s recipe for Garam Masala. When I had first gotten married, I had a store bought Garam Masala in the cupboard and the food just wasn’t tasting as good as it should. After talking to my mom, I got her recipe for Garam Masala and I’ve been using that ever since. It’s a simple recipe and the most time consuming part is shelling the cardamom pods. Any easy way to do this, is to add the cardamom to a mortar and pestle. Then pound them to break the shells open and take out the pods.
This recipe also doesn’t require any toasting of the spices either. Sometimes I find the cinnamom and nutmeg doesn’t grind to a powder so I may have to use the mortar and pestle to grind it some more.
Homemade Garam Masala
Garam Masala is so easy to make at home and elevates your dishes to another level. This recipe makes ~ 1/2 cup (~50-55 grams).
Ingredients
- 8 tsp shah zeera (black cumin)
- 4 tsp whole cumin
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 3 inch piece cinnamon (~20 grams)
- 1 nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground mace
- 40 green cardamom (pods removed)
Instructions
- Remove seeds from cardamom pods. Add the seeds to the spice grinder. I find the easiest way to remove the pods is to pound them in a mortar and pestle to crack them open. Then using your hands, pry open and take out seeds.
- Add all ingredients to a spice grinder and blend. Sometimes I find the nutmeg does not become a powder, so I remove and pound in a mortar and pestle.