Garam Masala — Off the Beaten Aisle by J.M. Hirsch in How-to, Recipes, December 1st, 2011
First lesson of Indian cooking: Not all brown powders are curry powder.
Second lesson: Don’t confuse heat and warmth, especially in Indian cuisine, as they are wildly different concepts.
Third lesson: Indian cooking is a deliciously inexact science. Embrace its freewheeling approach and all of your cooking, Indian and otherwise, will be better.
And all of that is why I want to introduce you to garam masala, a widely available yet little used (in the U.S.) seasoning blend from northern India. Like so many Indian spice blends, there is no set recipe for garam masala. The ingredients can vary tremendously by region and cook. But in general, it usually contains a mix of spices that are at once sweet and warming — coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin and black pepper.
