Sunday, February 1, 2026

Garam Masala

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons (17 grams) green cardamoms
  • 3 to 4 (3 to 4 grams) black cardamoms
  • 4 medium (1 gram) dried bay leaves
  • 3 (4 grams) star anise
  • ½ small (2 grams) nutmeg
  • 3 strands mace
  • 8 grams (8 pieces) cinnamon ( 3 inch each, use Ceylon cinnamon, cut down to half to use cassia)
  • 2 tablespoons (12 grams) cloves
  • 1 tablespoon (9 to 10 grams) black pepper corn
  • ½ cup (35 grams) coriander seeds
  • 1 tablespoon (8 grams) fennel seeds
  • ¼ cup (30 grams) cumin seeds

Preparation

  1. A word of caution- do not toast the spices on high heat or burn them. Heat a pan & add cardamoms, bay leaf, star anise, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, cloves and pepper.
  2. Roast them on a low heat without burning until they begin to smellgood & turn crunchy. Transfer to a large tray/plate.
  3. Add coriander seeds and roast on a low heat until they turn slightlydeep golden or light brown but not burnt. They smell good & turn crunchy when they are ready. Transfer this as well to the plate.
  4. Add fennel seeds & dry roast until aromatic. They don't need to betoasted for long. Transfer these to the same cooling tray. Add cumin &repeat roasting until cumin begins to smell good & the color changesslightly deeper but not burnt.
  5. Transfer to the same plate and cool completely.
  6. Add all these spices to a spice grinder jar. Grind to a fine powder 
  7. If you do not own a powerful grinder, sieve the garam masala and powder the coarse spices again. If you have a small grinder, grind in 2batches.
  8. Store this garam masala powder in an air tight dry glass jar.
From: https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/punjabi-garam-masala-powder-recipe/