INDIAN SPICES & MASALA

TYPES OF MASALA:

Spices blends are called masalas.

• Dry Masala: A Masala in Northern India is composed of dry spices pounded to make a powder that resists spoiling and are said to get better with age.
• Wet Masala: A Masala in Southern India prefers fresh or green spices ground with water, lime juice, coconut milk or vinegar producing paste that remains edible for limited periods.

The exact combination for a masala varies widely by region and taste preference. For example, masala can be ground or whole spices, mild or strong, bland or sharp and dry or wet.

Indian cooks have mastered the timed roast of spices, releasing various flavours from the same spices based on its length of roasting. A spice is also manipulated by the way it is prepared. Roasted and crushed cumin, for instance, tastes nutty, but fried whole in hot oil.

FAMOUS SPICES USED IN INDIAN DISHES

Garam masala:

This spice is used throughout northern India in all types of dishes, from appetizers and soups to yogurt salads and main courses, such as Murgh Masala, a Chicken dish made with onions, garlic, tomatoes and garam masala. “Garam” means “Hot”, the ingredients are used cinnamon, cloves, black pepper and black cardamom). Some cooling spices also mixed to make garam masala such as green cardamom, coriander, curry leaves, and cumin), which act to balance depth of flavour.

PREPARATION:

• Make all spices dry first
• Collect in a blender and convert in dry powder form.

Sambhar masala:

This spice is used in southern India. It is used in the preparation of sambhar (a spicy stew of vegetables and legumes) and rasams (a broth – like soup served at the beginning of a meal). The primary ingredients are coriander and cumin.

Panch phoron:

This spice is famous in Bengal and used with fish, vegetables, chutneys and legumes. It is a combination of five spices: cumin seeds, fennel seeds, black mustard seeds, fenugreek and nigela (kalongi) seeds.

Chaat masala:

A tart and salty blend whose dominant taste derives from amchoor. A salad like preparation called chaat, made with shredded cooked chicken and mixed fruit, potato chips and fried potatoes, Tandoori items etc.

Xacutti masala:

A famous spice of Goa, The region of west India on the Malabar coast, includes coriander seeds, cumin, black peppercorns, fenugreek and chilli blended with coconut, roasted until black-red in colour or fried to give a toasted, nutty taste.

Tazaa/fresh masala:

It is a green spice paste based on fresh cilantro leaves, mint, garlic and ginger. The mixture flavours meat and fish stews or vegetable dishes for a more potent flavour.

Tandoori masala:

This spice belongs to Punjab region. The tandoori spice mixture usually includes fenugreek, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, garlic and ginger. It is mixed with plain yogurt and is used to coat chicken, and then it is slow roasted in the tandoor.

Gujarati masala:

It is a hot spice mixture. it consists of dried red chillies, sesame seeds, fennel seeds and ajowain seeds.

Kashmiri masala:

It has a lighter aroma and flavour dominated by the fragrant green cardamom. This is used to season foods prepared by the “Dum” method (baking in a sealed pot).

 PREPARATION:

• • Preheat a skillet on medium heat and roast all the ingredients together except the spice powders (garlic-ginger-chilli), on low to medium heat until you can smell the aromas coming through.
  • Make sure you keep stirring continuously with preferably a wooden spoon while dry roasting.
  • Once the spices have cooled down, dry grind them along with garlic powder, ginger powder and chilli powder till finely done.

PULAO MASALA

This masala is used for making all types of pulao for ex: plain pulao, pea pulao, Veg. pulao, chicken pulao and mutton pulao etc.

PREPARATION:

• It can be used in two ways: whole or crushed
• Tied in a muslin bag and put in pulao.
• The reason behind keeping in muslin bag is to impart the flavour and easy to remove once done.

CURRY POWDER

This powder is used for making curry dishes such as chicken curry, mutton curry and fish curry, egg curry etc. This powder can be made by using different ingredients, categorised in A & B category, hot, mild, Madras, Maharashtra and east Indian,

Curry powder (A)

PREPARATION:

• • Roast coriander, red chillies, turmeric. Make powder all ingredients, sieve and use.

CURRY POWDER (B)

PREPARATION:

• Make them dry in sun rays and blend them to convert in powder form.

HOT CURRY POWDER

 PREPARATION:

• • Make all spices dry and convert in fine powder form through blender.
  • Sieve through a fine sieve to remove the hard particles and impurities.

MILD CURRY POWDER

PREPARATION:

• • Dry in sun light, red chillies, coriander seeds, black pepper corns and fennel seeds then roast lightly.
  • Combine and grind all the ingredients together. Pass through a fine sieve. Store or use as required.

MADRAS CURRY MASALA

PREPARATION:

• • Make all spices dry in the sun light.
  • Roast all the ingredients except chillies.
  • Roast chillies separately.
  • Powder chillies separately and other ingredients.
  • Pass through a sieve and mix.
  • Store in air-tight tins.

MAHARASHTRA CURRY POWDER

PREPARATION:

• • Make all the spices dry in sun light.
  • Roast and then make fine powder
  • Use as desire.

EAST INDIAN CURRY PASTE

PREPARATION:

• • To make a paste, the stone is used, not blender
  • Grind turmeric, add water
  • Add all other ingredients, make a very fine paste by grinding
  • If the paste is kept overnight, do not add onion, garlic and red pepper, use when needed.