Homemade Curry Masalas: Dry Spice Powder

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Homemade Curry Masalas: I am sure you must be thinking that what so great in curry masalas. All type of curry masalas are readily available in the market easy to use and they taste great. I know I was also on the same lines before we got posted to Shillong. Shillong is in Meghalaya an eastern part of the Indian continent. If you are following my posts, I always mention that in Indian food and culture you can see the remarkable similarity in diversity. Shillong culture is very different from the rest of the country. When we landed up there we found it difficult to get regular north Indian spices at that times.

From my grandma’s diary:

That time My mother gave me a few of my dadima’s homemade masala recipes. The aroma of freshly ground spices are so different from the market bought ready to use masalas that I became a fan of the spice powders. Now every month or two months I take out some time and ground these masalas and store them in airtight glass containers

INDIAN SPICES are almost always the secret magic ingredients that impart most of the flavour to Indian food. There’s nothing like a homemade fresh masala for a curry. There are several recipes for curry powders, but this one is the most widely used. A mix of several spices lightly roasted and ground into a fine powder. Garam Masala is much like all-spice, except with different flavours, curry powders are different for different curries in India. These fragrant spices are best made fresh just before cooking.

However, since most of us do not have the luxury of time, it works in our favour that all curry masalas can be stored for 3-4 months without losing their flavour and aroma. They are indeed very easy to make. Moreover, just adding a pinch will go a long way to give a lasting impression to your recipes. Every household has its own recipe. Here, I am sharing my dadi ma’s all type of curry masala recipes. Hoping that it will win you more accolades as a cook, just as it has done to me!

DIFFERENT SPICE POWDER RECIPES:

GARAM MASALA,

which literally means “Hot and Spicy” is undoubtedly the heart of most Indian Cuisine, especially north Indian and Mughlai dishes. And almost everyone has a “mom’s or dadi ma’s garam masala recipe” to share. It is basically just a combination of different spices, and you can modify the basic recipe shown below to suit your taste by adding or omitting spices as required. It is best to add this spice towards the end of cooking your meal; and don’t worry, unlike its name, this spice powder is more aromatic than spicy!

CHANA MASALA,

“A Panjabi delight” if you love Indian food you can’t resist your food without Panjabi flavours they are simply awesome ….tasty and spicy I am sure this mixture of spices will bring lot’s of spice in your life too..enjoy this homemade chana masala powder and sprinkle in your exotic chana bhatura, chana rice or Pindi chana recipe

BIRYANI MASALA-

masalas are the backbone of any dish. I love experimenting with different spices and coming up with different spice mixtures or masalas. Here is a very easy way of preparing biryani masala at home which can also be used for cooking vegetables, chicken or mutton biryani.

CHAT MASALA –

Like all other masalas chat masala is also one of the important masalas of Indian cuisine. We put chat masalas in almost all the Indian snacks and on the chat of course. chat is an all-time favourite street food. You ask an Indian they will tell you how mouthwatering these Indian chats are. I am telling you I am a great fan of chat and I can’t resist yummy golgappas and crunchy tikke Chola. Everybody likes Indian chat, but these days we are afraid to eat chat in the market because it might not be hygienic. Even if we make a chat at home, we still need the chat masala. Even though this chat masala is easily available in the market, the homemade one tastes far better and different. Let’s make the Chat Masala.

SAMBHAR MASALA-

Same as chat south Indian cuisine is also one of the famous mouthwatering delicacies of Indian food. Rasam, sambhar, dosa, idli, appam and uttapam. All these things are yummy and you can’t imagine a south Indian cuisine without sambhar and when you use freshly made masala fragrance is amazingly good. There is nothing secrete about these recipes infect many of you may be already aware of it but sometimes we just don’t want extra effort maybe because nowadays life is so busy but you can store all these masalas for long in airtight containers so whenever you get time mix spices and see the difference.

Tawa fry masala–

Tawa fry masala also called stuffed vegetable masala. For almost all type of stuffed vegetable with onion or without onion, we use this dry masala to fill inside the Tawa sabji. Vegetables like stuffed bhindi, stuffed karela, stuffed aloo and stuffed mirch.

SHAHI KORMA MASALA-

Shahi korma masala is a very popular masala for Mughlai korma gravies this masala is so aromatic that it will increase the taste of korma.

Finally, I would like to suggest you few more recipe from my blog:

Garam masala powder:-

Ingredients

Makes about 8 tbsp of Spice Powder

2 tbsp cardamom seeds

2 big long cinnamon stick

2 tsp black cumin (shahjeera)

2 tsp cloves

2 tsp black peppercorns

1/2 nutmeg

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp dried coriander seeds

1 tsp mace powder (javantari)

2 piece star anise

2 long bay leaf

Directions

Roast all the above spices lightly on low flame for about 2 mins. Now powder them in a clean, dry spice grinder until smooth. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
This Garam Masala can be added to any gravies or curries, and not just Indian! The aromatic spices in this recipe add a subtle flavour to your dish. But remember to use this very sparingly, as it is very powerful in taste. Freshly ground garam masala can be stored for up to 3 months in an air-tight container in a cool, dry and dark place.

2. Chana masala powder

Ingredients

6 tbsp Coriander seeds,

11/2 tbsp + 1 tsp Cumin seeds,

2 tsp Peppercorns,

4-6 dry Red chillies preferably Kashmiri red chilli,

15 Cloves,

4″ Cinnamon stick,(Dalchini)

1 tsp Cardamom seeds,

a small piece of Mace.

2 tsp dry ginger powder

Directions

Roast all these well without oil, cool, add Paprika, Ginger powder and then powder
everything in a dry grinder.
(Use only as much as a powder you need, store the rest in an airtight glass jar in the fridge.
Double or triple the amount if you want)

BIRYANI MASALA POWDER-

Ingredients

(Makes around 3 tbsp biryani powder)

Cloves – 8 to 10

Green Cardamom – 4

Black Cardamom – 2

Cinnamon – 2 inch stick

Star Anise – 1

Cumin Seeds – 2 tsp

Bay Leaf – 2

Shahi Jeera – 1/2 tsp

Directions

Roast and add all the ingredients to a spice blender or a grinder and grind to a fine powder.
Store in an airtight container.
Usage:
For around one kg of chicken or mutton,2 cups of veg biryani use 1 1/2 tbsp biryani masala.
(Add the biryani masala powder to the marinade and marinate the paneer or meat in it)

CHAT MASALA POWDER-

Ingredients

cumin seeds – 100 gm

Asafetida – 3 to 4 pinch

whole coriander -100gm

Black pepper- 50 gm

Red chili – 10 gm

Citric acid -10 gm

plain salt- 200 gm

Black salt – 200 gm

Directions

Roast the cumin seed and asafetida on a dry pan till they turn light brown.
Grind all the spices along with salt in a grinder. Your chat masala is ready. You can store this chat masala in an airtight container for up to 6 months. You can use this chat masala in chat and also in salads and curries

SPECIAL SAMBAR MASALA POWDER-

Ingredients

2 cups whole red pepper

1 1/2 cups coriander seeds (dhania)

2 tbsp mustard seeds (Sarson)

3 tbsp cumin seeds (jeera)

4 tsp peppercorns (sabut kali mirch)

2 tbsp fenugreek seeds (methi dana)

2 tbsp husked split black gram (dhuli urad dal)

2 tbsp Bengal gram (channa dal)

2 tbsp yellow lentils (arhar dal)

2 tbsp rice

2 tbsp asafoetida (heeng)

2 tbsp turmeric powder (Haldi)

1/4 cup dried curry leaves (Kadi Patta)

Directions

Roast all the ingredients, except the turmeric powder, till vary slightly coloured.
Remove from the heat and cool, and grind to a powder and mix in the turmeric powder.
Store this masala in an airtight jar.

SIMPLE SAMBAR MASALA POWDER-

Ingredients

3 Tbsp Coriander seeds

1 Tbsp chana dal

1 Tbsp fenugreek seeds

1 tsp urad dal

1tsp black pepper

2″ cinnamon stick

10 cloves

10-12 red chillies

Directions

Roast all the ingredients and grind to a powder
store this powder in an airtight container.

TAWA FRY SABJI MASALA-

Ingredients

Mustard seed-2 tbsp

Jeera-1 tbsp

Sauf- 3 tbsp

Coriander powder -1 tbsp

Red chili powder-1/2 tsp

Dry mango powder-1/2 tsp

Directions

Roast all the ingredients and grind them to powder.
add salt when required. Store masala in airtight container.

Korma Masala-

Ingredients

1 tsp saunf/fennel seed

2 tsp coriander seeds

1 green cardamom

1 clove

1 cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

10 cashew nuts

2 tsp poppy seeds