Topic: Rajma Masala

[Malc.]

It's very close Phil, very close indeed but as Gary mentions what ever it is, it's colour was black as charcoal. I have emailed the chef Marcus Eaves direct to ask, fingers crossed he replies.

[chonk]

Hey, Alex!

...goes also very nice with any tandoori dish, because of it's smokey flavour. It's the main indgredient of the Garam masala I use at the moment...

Interesting comments Chonk, have you ever come across black masala or black curry powder? I wonder if the black cardamon plays a key part in this?

If you have any suggested recipes for the tandoori pairings, I would love to see them.

Thanks,

Malc.

What I know as black masala, goes also by the name "Goda masala". Not sure if you are talking about the same spice mix, but if so, then yes. Made some of my own a while ago. It depends on the author, but yeah, at least one of the recipes I know ("Black masala from Maharashtra", and it sounds pretty good - but I didn't try it yet) use (black) cardamom. (and in this case, it's also the main ingredient) For colour, I think it's the roasting, that's more essential, though. At least a few recipes use green cardamom instead of the black ones, so they seem interchangeable - besides for taste ,)

The Garam masala I use right now, consists of 1 tablespoon black cardamom seeds, 1 cinnamon stick (5cm), 1 teaspoon black cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon cloves, 1 teaspoon black peppercorns and 1/4-1/3 nutmeg and is originally from "Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking" and described as an old-school, ayurvedic garam mix.

I'm on the jump right now but will respond later. Let me know if you want to know the black masala recipe, too! Will write something about the tandoori stuff, too! (:

Greetings!

[Malc.]

I look forward to anything you can offer Chonk, tandoori and the black masala.

Thanks

Malc

[chonk]

Sorry for the delay, Axe! Got caught up in some family business, but here's the "Black Masala from Maharashtra":

12 black cardamom pods (you could use green ones, too)
10 cloves
1 cinnamon stick (3cm)
5 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon oil
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
2 tablespoons cumin
2 teaspoons black cumin (Shah Jeera)
4 tablespoons poppy seeds
8 fenugreek seeds
2 tablespoons grated coconut
1/2 teaspoon Hing
1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Roast the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and the bay leaves in the hot oil for a short time. Let it cool down. Everything else gets roasted at low flame till it gets brown, in another pan. You have to keep attention, so the coconut doesn't get burnt. After the that, you combine both batches and process it further with an electric grinder into a fine powder. There are different outcomes, that depend on the roasting (ligh-brown till dark brown, black).

I don't really use any self-made tandoori masala, but just a hint of black cardamom in addition to any tandoori recipe I make. (at the moment, I simply use the garam masala, because it contains black cardamom as main ingredient) But I know for sure, that there are also some tandoori masala recipes, that use these at first place. I will give you the one I found in one of my cookbooks nonetheless, but I didn't try it out yet, it uses green cardamom originally, and it's a chaat variation. AND it outcome would be like 500 grams or so X.X

Tandoori Chaat Masala:

50 g cumin seeds
50 g black peppercorns
3 1/2 tablespoons kala namak (black salt)
30 g dried mint
2 tablespoons fenugreek seeds
30 green cardamom pods
15 cloves
5 cinnamon sticks (2-3cm)
2 teaspoons ajowan seeds
1 teaspoon hing
1/2 ground macis
125 g amchoor powder
2 1/2 tablespoons Salt
3 tablespoons ginger powder
3 tablespoons yellow cayenne pepper*

Process everything, besides the amchoor, salt, ginger and cayenne pepper in your electric grinder into a fine powder. After that, combine it with the other ingredients and pour through a sieve into airtight container, etc.

* I believe the author speaks of ordinary, red cayenne pepper, but I'm not sure. It's the german translation of Pushpesh Pant's "India" (the original edition is known to contain some errors), but I never heard of powdered, yellow cayenne pepper. Maybe someone here owns the english edition and could check?

Most of the usual tandoori marinades I know, typically consist of curd, ginger and garlic paste, some fenugreek seeds, red chili paste or cayenne pepper (or kashmiri chili, deggi mirch, etc.) and in addition some cardamom seeds or garam masala (and there I would recommend to use a pinch of black cardamom, or garam masala that contains black cardamom as first or second ingredient).

You could try out the garam masala recipe, if you want, and just use it with your typical tandoori dish. If you have none, I could write you some basic recipe for a tandoori marinade down, too.

Hope you enjoy (:

Greetings!

[Malc.]

Thanks Chonk, I did consider the black colour to be part of the roasting process but how far one dares to take it could be disastrous! I think I  may well give this a go as it looks and sounds very nice.

I have since found or rather emailed Marcus Eaves (the chef that appeared on Saturday Kitchen), who kindly replied with what and where to buy the black curry powder. It is called Curry Black Pearl and available from vanillachef.com When you see it, i'm sure you'll be surprised at it's colour, which the manufacturer claims is natural. A little pricey though!


Cheers,


Malc.

[Peripatetic Phil]

It is called Curry Black Pearl and available from vanillachef.com When you see it, i'm sure you'll be surprised at it's colour, which the manufacturer claims is natural. A little pricey though!

As is the whole Thiercelin 1809 range.  Aimed at those with more money than sense, I feel.  I would suggest trying some of the recipes that this fairly specific search URL throws up.

** Phil.

[Malc.]

If it wasn't for the price, i'd probably get some but i'm still tempted though. It also appears to be quite different compared to others on the internet.

[chonk]

Hey, Axe!

Wow - that "Curry Black Pearl" sure is black! I believe, if you would roast the ingredients till they become that dark, they will not only look like charcoal, but taste like it, too ;P Not sure, if they use colouring (that is natural), or it's the mustard seeds or black peppercorns, that give the colour. Looks a little bit unusual, but sounds pretty nice.

Greetings!