Aromatic Garam Masala

Ingredients :-

1. 175 gms / 6oz green cardamom
2. 125 gms / 4 1/2 oz cumin seeds
3. 125 gms / 4 1/2 oz black peppercorns
4. 20 sticks cinnamon (1")
5. 20 gms / 3/4 oz cloves
6. 2 nutmegs.

Put all the ingredients in a dry grinder and powder it and store in a airtight container. You have the option of using mortar and pestle to powder and sieve it.

Garam Masala - 2

Ingredients:-

1. 90 gms / 3 oz cumin seeds
2. 75 gms / 2 1/2 oz black cardamom seeds
3. 75 gms /2 1/2 oz black peppercorns
4. 45 gms / 1 1/2 oz green cardamom
5. 30 gms/ 1 oz coriander seeds
6. 30 gms/ 1 oz fennel seeds
7. 20 gms / 3/4 oz cloves
8. 20 sticks cinnamon (1")
9. 20 gms / 3/4 oz black cumin seeds
10. 20 gms / 3/4 oz mace
12. 15 gms / 1/2 oz bay leaves
13. 15 gms / 1/2 oz dry rose petals
14. 15 gms / 1/2 oz ginger powder
15. 3 nutmegs

Put all the ingredients in a dry grinder and powder it.

Garam Masala

Years back I used to enjoy reading food columns in Times of India by Jiggs Kalra. One such column regarding different types of Indian masalas and pastes caught my eye and I then stated following his recipes with a little variation here and there. He wrote about three different types of garam masala. So here I go.

Garam Masala -1 Ingredients

1. 200 gms /7 oz cumin seeds
2. 60 gms / 2 oz coriander seeds
3. 45 gms / 1 1/2 oz black cardamoms
4. 35 gms / 1 1/4 oz black peppercorns
5. 30 gms / green cardamoms
6. 20 sticks cinnamon ( 1")
7. 20 gms / 3/4 oz cloves
8. 20 gms / 3/4 oz mace
9. 15 gms / 1/2 oz bay leaves
10. 2 nutmegs
11. 30 gms / 1 oz ginger powder

Mr. Kalra's Method

Put all the ingredients in a mortar and pound with a pestle to make a fine powder. Sieve and store in a airtight container.

I dry roast all the ingredients and run through the dry grinder.

Its been more than a year and a half since I posted any thing new on my blog. Aarti, my daughter persuaded me to revive it and Isha Wakhle's phone call for the garam masala receipe brought me back to this post. Thanks Aarti and Isha. Meanwhile lots of things have happened at my end. Both Aarti and Reva have started blogging. Reva has her baking club with many enthusiastic members. Both of them have surpassed me in cooking and I feel its time for me to take a back seat. But occasionally I will also post something more of Indian cuisine. So folks, here I come with a bang, I hope.

Mirchi wada

Take a few chillies as shown in the picture above. Slit and de-seed them. Use chillies which are not pungent, the thick and long variety.

Boil and mash two potatoes. To this add half tsp. each of ginger and garlic paste, chopped coriander, 1tsp of chaat masala and mix it well. Stuff the chillies with spiced potato filling.

Make a batter with 3 tbsp besan, bit of turmeric powder,1/4 tsp red chilli powder and salt. The batter should be of medium consistency like we make for bhajiyas.

Dip the stuffed chilly in the batter and cover it well with it and deep fry in oil. Serve it with tomato ketchup or tamarind khatta mitha chutney.

Koshimbirs or Maharashtrian salads

Koshimbir is a very important item of a maharashtrian meal. It is served as a side dish . It is a healthy and not a very time consuming dish. Very little cooking involved hence can be made in a jiffy. There is a lot of varietyand to start with I shall post tomato kanda koshimbir and gajar tomato koshimbir. You can eat it with roti.
Ingredients
3 medium size tomatoes finely chopped
1 medium size onion finely chopped
1 green chilly finely chopped
1 tbs of chopped green corrainder
1 heaped roasted peanut powder
juice of 1/2 lemon.
salt to taste. Sugar 1/2 tsp.
Tadka of 1/2 tsp mustard and 1/4 tsp hing in 1tsp of oil is optional.
Mix all the above ingredients and serve. Add salt just before serving in order to avoid a watery koshimbir.

Gajar Tomato Koshimbir
Mix together all the following ingredients:
3 grated carrots
1 chopped tomatoes
1 chopped green chilly
1 tbs chopped corriander
1 heaped ground roasted peanut powder
1/2 tsp sugar
juice of 1/2emon
salt to taste
Tadka of mustard and hing.

Rice Kheer

Ingredients:

• One small Katori of broken rice (tukda basmati will do or you can coarse grind it in the mixer)
• 1/2 litre milk
• 1 tsp powdered cardamom
• 2-3 strands of saffron
• 1 milkmaid tin
• Chopped almonds, pistas for garnishing

Method:
Pressure cook rice, milk, saffron and cardamom powder. Remove from the cooker and add milkmaid according to your taste. I usually use the entire tin. Garnish it with almonds and pistas. Chill and serve.

This is a very easy recipe of rice kheer and believe me it comes out really creamy.