Topic: Curry By Air Spices

[livo]

Looking at the Desi Style Mix Powder ingredients is quite intriguing, assuming they are listed in descending order of amount.  The other possibility is that the 5 main ingredients (or some of them) are used in equal quantity. I have just reviewed the list of mixed powders and find none that have Garam Masala in large amount.  Most have only a small amount or none at all and usually Madras Curry Powder (or just curry powder) are higher up the list.  Given this ingredient list, in comparison with other widely used powders, I'd be inclined to go with the latter and first try the 5 main ingredients used in equal parts.

*   Turmeric Powder
*   Ground Coriander Powder
*   Garam Masala
*   Cumin Powder
*   Madras Curry Powder

My first attempt would be to make a small batch using a standard GM and Madras Curry Powder.  Following up on this I'll try to work out possible ratios for the GM and Curry powders made by CBA.  Give me a few minutes and I'll be back.

Garam Masala:
After a quick search around I found one formula for a Garam Masala that pretty closely resembles the ingredient list with a few clear (expected) omissions.  Dagar Phool (Stone Flower) is pretty rare, and you wouldn't really expect it. Some say it is a missing flavour from Restaurant dishes.  I'm not convinced having bought and used it.  Triphala, I'm not surprised, is missing and it seems to be more Ayurvedic than flavour.  No chilli but you could add as desired, no Caraway and no salt.  Listed as the last ingredient it is probably only trace anyway and not really required.  Salt to taste at any time in cooking process.  I guess it could have some preservative effect on the mixed masala.  Cumin powder is well out of proportion, so I've changed it to reflect the order of ingredients as listed.

Coriander,  2 TBSP
Black Pepper, 1 TBSP
Bay Leaf, 4-5
Cloves, 2 tsp
Cinnamon, 6-8 pieces (size unknown but I'd be going on ordered volume so say 2 tsp of ground)
Cumin, 2 tsp (formula I found says 5 TBSP making it the highest amount)
Black Cardamom, 2 pieces or 2 tsp ground
Chilli, not used
Dagar Phool, not used
Nutmeg, 2 tsp
Triphala, not used
Star Aniseeds (sic), 6 pieces ground
Long Pepper, 8 - 10 pieces
Ginger, 10 grams (2 tsp)
Caraway, not used
Javitri, 10 g
Salt not used.

So based on these amounts, 2 tsp of most everything added to the top listed coriander and pepper should get pretty close.

Or, you could modify and use Natco Garam Masala, which contains most listed ingredients including Stoneflower and Triphala.   

Curry Powder next but it'll be later on.

I may be a sceptic, but I find it extraordinary that the exact ingredient list, in order, is to be found on the Natco Madras Curry Powder.

https://shop.natcofoods.com/products/curry-powder

I can't buy it over here, so I'd be looking at proportions to recreate my own using the same ingredient list.

[Kashmiri Bob]

Currently revisiting stone flower as an addition to a GM livo.  Tried it years ago with no success.  Smelly stuff. With distinct arm pit/stale urine notes.  Also tried the Natco GM, pretty average, you can notice the stone flower.  There is, however, a GM recipe in Vivek Singh's Cinnamon Kitchen The Cookbook (p 20) that includes additional ingredients to make their restaurant version.  These are stone flower, fennel seeds and rose petals.  Apparently the stone flower is indeed there to bring out the flavour of other ingredients.  I want to try this GM at the cooking stage with MDB base and tandoori masala powder.  Already given the latter a good trialing with excellent results.  It's not the elusive Adil's Balti yet, missing the floral sparkle, but very promising so far.  Will make the GM from scratch.  May also revisit Jalpur GM, which I liked a lot.

Rob