Pav Bhaji Masala Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons coriander seeds (dhaniya)
• 2½ tablespoons cumin seeds (jeera)
• 2 teaspoons pepper corn (can reduce to 1 tsp)
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds (saunf)
• 5 to 6 dried red chilies (or replace with red chilli powder, adjust to taste)
• 3 inch cinnamon (dalchini, use ceylon cinnamon not cassia)
• 10 cloves (laung)
• 2 small black cardamoms (badi elaichi, masala elaichi)
• 1 tablespoon amchur powder (dried mango powder)
• 1 star anise (refer notes)
• 4 green cardamoms (optional)
• 1 to 2 bay leaves (optional)
• ½ teaspoon dried ginger powder (ground ginger, skip if you don't have)

Steps

Preparation

1. Pick through and clean the spices, throwing away any stones or debris.
2. Put the star anise, black cardamoms, dried red chilies, coriander seeds, optional bay leaf, and cinnamon in a pan. Dry-roast over low heat, stirring constantly, until the spices are slightly fragrant and crisp. Move them to a plate to cool.
3. Add the cloves, peppercorns, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and optional green cardamoms. Take care with the cumin, which can burn quickly. Stir throughout roasting and stop as soon as the spices are fragrant and crunchy.
4. Switch off the heat and take the pan off the stove. While the pan is still hot, add the amchur and ginger powder to bring out their aroma and help the spice blend keep longer.

How to make Pav Bhaji Masala

1. Let all the spices cool completely before transferring them to a grinder jar or spice jar. If desired, you can also add 1 teaspoon red chilli powder. Grind to a fine powder, stopping before prolonged grinding heats up the spice blend.
2. If the masala comes out coarse, pass it through a sieve and blend the coarse pieces again.
3. Keep the pav bhaji masala in an airtight glass jar. It keeps for 6 months in the refrigerator.