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Supplementary Recipes (Curry Powders, Curry Paste, Restaurant Spice Mixes) => Supplementary Recipes (Spice Mixes, Masalas, Pastes, Oils, Stocks, etc) => Topic started by: Terramamba on March 04, 2012, 08:29 PM

Title: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: Terramamba on March 04, 2012, 08:29 PM
I followed this recipe http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7864.0 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7864.0) and I am totally impressed, did not have Indian Bay Leaves though, will try to source some.

What I found particularly satisfying about this mix is the amazing fragrance, it gave so much promise of a great curry later on.  ;D

Spices all ready to go into the oven at 200C

(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/b5c74fa6049de901ac06fbc85eeb0f58.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#b5c74fa6049de901ac06fbc85eeb0f58.jpg)

Spices out after 3 minutes

(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/f4d8b08b968794651a5d0190dcdabd88.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#f4d8b08b968794651a5d0190dcdabd88.jpg)

Grind in the blender and I have the best Garam Masala ever! I threw out a full jar of bought mix, it did not compare well.

All the best
Colette.  :)
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: natterjak on March 04, 2012, 08:41 PM
Hi Colette. Sounds good  ;) you might get better results roasting for longer at a lower temp - when we were at Zaal Az had dried the spices on a low heat overnight and then roasted for a good hour or so on top of that (if I remember correctly). I'm not saying your approach is wrong, but worth trying a low & slow approach next time to compare.
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: Terramamba on March 04, 2012, 08:43 PM
Hi Natterjak!

Well what can I say but bugger and brilliant! Bugger as I did not get the recipe right, and brilliant as it may well be dramatically improved! Thanks for your tip  8)
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: curryhell on March 04, 2012, 08:53 PM
If you thought that was good wait until you try it with the Asian bay leaves Terramamba. It's even more fragrant. The whole purpose of putting it in the oven was to dry it out and make it easier to grind - Az said. I made some on Fri eve in preparation for making the Zaal mix powder and the base. Get you hands on some if them Asian bay leaves :P :P
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: natterjak on March 04, 2012, 08:54 PM
Well I firmly believe there's never only one way to get a good result so there's no reason to think that what you've done is wrong, just maybe worth trying a lower heat and longer to compare results next time.
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: curryhell on March 04, 2012, 09:08 PM
My spices were in a cool oven for about three hours at 75 degrees C. It seemed to work quite well other than I needed to add more cassia as mine was not as thick as what Az was using so therefore volume wise mine contained less.
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: Terramamba on March 04, 2012, 09:32 PM
Thank you guys! Just checked eBay and there are some (two lots) on there but it does not say Asian, off the the local shop tomorrow then  ;D
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: fishy on March 04, 2012, 09:54 PM
I have also tried the GM recipe, first i didnt roast them and the smell was awesome then i done another batch roasted on high temp, didnt have the same strong fragrant whiff but a toasted smell, think ill slow roast next time
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: Terramamba on March 04, 2012, 10:01 PM
I have also tried the GM recipe, first i didnt roast them and the smell was awesome then i done another batch roasted on high temp, didnt have the same strong fragrant whiff but a toasted smell, think ill slow roast next time

I am definitely slow roasting next time  ;D

Much better GM than I have ever tried before  8)
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: martinvic on March 05, 2012, 02:06 AM
Talking of dry roasting the spices, which I always do (but in a fry pan), I found this article interesting. :-\

http://www.azeliaskitchen.net/blog/dont-dry-roast-spices/ (http://www.azeliaskitchen.net/blog/dont-dry-roast-spices/)

Martin
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: loveitspicy on March 05, 2012, 08:34 AM
martinvic - great link to a good article - in all hot Asian countries the spices are on the ground drying in the sun - the same sort of effect would be to take the raw spices and put them in a cool oven like has been mentioned - however the spices that are purchased and considered raw are dried already they are not green and raw if you know what i mean - i personally like the spices just ground - to keep what oils etc they have left after being sun dried before packing and shipping around the world.
I see spices drying on whole areas of concrete - turmeric, chili etc etc everyday when there is no rainy season.
Its a point for an individual as is having to use curry leaves etc a lot of chefs have jumped on the band wagon re roasting spices......

best, Rich
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: Salvador Dhali on March 05, 2012, 09:47 AM
Talking of dry roasting the spices, which I always do (but in a fry pan), I found this article interesting. :-\

http://www.azeliaskitchen.net/blog/dont-dry-roast-spices/ (http://www.azeliaskitchen.net/blog/dont-dry-roast-spices/)

Martin

An excellent article, Martin.

It fascinates me to discover how things begin. (It's still a mystery to me, for instance, how, after tasting the foul bitterness of raw olives from the tree, someone thought "Brilliant. These will make fantastic oil when crushed".)

It hadn't occurred to me that dry roasting spices was born not necessarily for reasons of taste, but out of practicality to counter the damp of monsoon periods. (And I wasn't aware of the differences between Indian and European coriander seed, either.)

It's only 09:46, but already I've learnt something...
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: Unclefrank on March 05, 2012, 10:15 AM
martinvic what a find a very informative site there.
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: martinvic on March 05, 2012, 01:03 PM
If you haven't read them, the comments below the article are pretty interesting too.

Some good links to other interesting articles on there too.

Martin
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: timeless on March 05, 2012, 02:00 PM
Made a batch of this today didn't bother with the roasting the smell is something else.
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: loveitspicy on March 05, 2012, 03:04 PM
The question is " Why Roast?"


best, Rich
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: DalPuri on March 05, 2012, 03:20 PM
I posted this a while back  ;)

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7815.0 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7815.0)


Frank.
Title: Re: The Best Garam Masala I have ever come across!
Post by: martinvic on March 05, 2012, 04:18 PM
Sincere apologies Frank, looks like I (and others) must have missed your post. 8)



I honestly came across and bookmarked it in Jan, when I was looking for GM recipes, but forgot to post a link here then.::)

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7731.msg68118#msg68118 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7731.msg68118#msg68118)

Martin