This authentic recipe will yield you a super flavorful and aromatic garam masala that works in all your Indian or South Asian cooking. It can be used in veg and meat dishes. Store it in a air tight glass jar and use up to a few months.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Total time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 125 · 125 grams
  • Category: Condiment
  • Cuisine: North Indian

Ingredients

  • ½ cup (35 grams) coriander seeds ((daniya))
  • ¼ cup (30 grams) cumin seeds ((jeera))
  • 2 tablespoons (17 grams) green cardamoms ((elaichi))
  • 2 tablespoons (12 grams) cloves ((laung))
  • 1 tablespoon (9 to 10 grams) black pepper corn ((kali mirch))
  • 8 grams (8 pieces) cinnamon ((∼ 3 inch each, use Ceylon cinnamon, cut down to half to use cassia))
  • 4 medium (1 gram) dried bay leaves ((tej patta))
  • 3 (4 grams) star anise ((chakri phool, helps in digestion))
  • 1 tablespoon (8 grams) fennel seeds ((saunf, avoids acidity))
  • ½ small (2 grams) nutmeg ((jaiphal, helps in digestion))
  • 3 to 4 (3 to 4 grams) black cardamoms ((badi elaichi, for flavor, refer notes))
  • 3 strands mace ((javitri/japatri, for flavor))

Method

Preparation

  1. Cleaning spices is an important step as it increases the shelf life of your garam masala. So Clean the bay leaf and inner part of cinnamon stick with a dry or damp cloth to remove dirt. or dust.
  2. Break open the nutmeg and check for any infestations. Pick and discard stones and debris from all the spices.

Roast Spices

  1. A word of caution- do not toast the spices on high heat or burn them. Heat a pan & add cardamoms, bay leaf, star anise, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, cloves and pepper.
  2. Roast them on a low heat without burning until they begin to smell good & turn crunchy. Transfer to a large tray/plate.
  3. Add coriander seeds and roast on a low heat until they turn slightly deep golden or light brown but not burnt. They smell good & turn crunchy when they are ready. Transfer this as well to the plate.
  4. Add fennel seeds & dry roast until aromatic. They don't need to be toasted for long. Transfer these to the same cooling tray. Add cumin & repeat roasting until cumin begins to smell good & the color changes slightly deeper but not burnt.
  5. Transfer to the same plate and cool completely.

How to Make Garam Masala

  1. Add all these spices to a spice grinder jar. Grind to a fine powder, in intervals of 40 to 60 seconds.
  2. If you do not own a powerful grinder, sieve it and powder the coarse spices again. If you have a small grinder, grind in 2 batches.
  3. Store this garam masala powder in an air tight dry glass jar.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.