Vol. XXIX · The Cuisines of India Plate 3 of 11masala, spice blend, garam masala, panch phoron, sambar powder, chaat masala, dry roasting, bhuna, grinding, coriander, cumin, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, fenugreek, nigella, fennel, toasting, burningFH

Spice Blends.

Garam masala is not a recipe but a family: every household roasts and grinds its own, and adds it at the end so its perfume stays on top of the dish.

"Masala" simply means a mixture of spices, dry or wet. Garam masala ("warm mixture") of the north blends coriander, cumin, black pepper, green and black cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and bay leaf, sometimes nutmeg and mace; it is sprinkled near the end of cooking or over the finished dish, so its volatile perfume survives (XXIX.1). Panch phoron, the "five spices" of Bengal and Odisha, is equal parts of whole fenugreek, nigella, cumin, black mustard and fennel seeds, fried whole in mustard oil to begin a dish (XXIX.2). Sambar powder of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka grinds dried red chillies and coriander with roasted chana and urad dal, fenugreek, cumin, pepper and curry leaves; the lentils thicken and add a roasted flavour to the tamarind-and-lentil stew it seasons.

Most masalas are dry-roasted before grinding: whole spices stirred in a dry, heavy pan over medium heat until they darken a shade and smell toasty. Roasting drives off moisture so they grind finely, and creates new aroma by Maillard and pyrolysis reactions (VIII.1) — but it also drives off some of the volatile oils, and past a point it scorches them bitter (VIII.8). Each spice browns at its own rate, so seeds of different sizes are roasted separately or added in turn, larger first; they are cooled before grinding so the heat of the grinder does not drive off more aroma. The workshop roasts a blend.

Below: the proportions of the blend you choose (typical household recipes, by weight), and the toasting and the scorching of whole spices dry-roasted for the minutes you choose at the pan temperature you choose (teaching kinetics: toasting doubles every 15 °C above 160 °C, scorching every 12 °C above 200 °C).

What you will learn
Workshop
Proportions by weight, typical household recipes (teaching): garam masala — coriander 30, cumin 25, black pepper 15, cardamom 10, cinnamon 8, cloves 7, bay and nutmeg 5; panch phoron — five seeds at 20 each; sambar powder — coriander 35, dried chilli 25, chana and urad dal 15, black pepper 7, cumin 8, fenugreek 5, curry leaves and turmeric 5. Roasting (teaching): toasted = 1 − e^(−0.15 t 2^((T−160)/15)); scorched = 1 − e^(−0.02 t 2^((T−200)/12)).

Roast to a shade darker, cool, grind

In the teaching kinetics four minutes at a medium 170 °C toast whole spices to about 0.61 with almost no scorching (0.01); four minutes at a fierce 230 °C toast them completely but scorch 0.36 of the way — smoky and bitter. Medium heat, constant stirring and the nose decide: stop when the spices are a shade darker and fragrant, before they smoke, and tip them out of the hot pan at once.

Garam masala (about 50 g): 15 g coriander seed, 12 g cumin seed, 7 g black peppercorns, 5 g green cardamom pods, 4 g cinnamon stick, 3 g cloves, 2 bay leaves and a little nutmeg. Roast the coriander and cumin together in a dry pan over medium heat 3–4 minutes, stirring, until fragrant; tip out; roast the rest 1–2 minutes; cool on a plate. Grind finely, sift, and store airtight and dark; use within a few months (XXIX.1). Add a teaspoon in the last minutes of a curry, or sprinkle it over. Panch phoron needs no roasting: mix the five seeds and fry them whole in hot mustard oil at the start.

At the stove

Roast a tablespoon of cumin seeds and take a few out every minute onto a plate. Smell and taste each to find where toasty ends and burnt begins.

The Mughal court kitchens of the sixteenth century, described in the Ain-i-Akbari (about 1590), used saffron, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon in rice and meat dishes; much of what is now called North Indian restaurant cooking grew from that Persian-influenced court cuisine.

Terms

Masala
A mixture of spices, dry or wet.
Garam masala
North Indian warm blend, added at the end.
Panch phoron
Bengali five-seed mix, fried whole at the start.
Dry-roasting
Toasting whole spices in a dry pan before grinding.
Masalas are blends for a purpose: garam masala at the end, panch phoron whole at the start, sambar powder with roasted lentils. Dry-roast over medium heat to a shade darker, cool, then grind; too hot and they scorch bitter.

Sources

  1. K. T. Achaya, Indian Food: A Historical Companion, Oxford University Press, 1994; and A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food, 1998.
  2. A teaching value chosen for the course: the right order of magnitude and shape, not a measurement of a particular food.