Ingredients
The composition of garam masala differs regionally, with wide variety across India. Varying combinations of these and other spices are used in different garam masala recipes in accordance to region and personal taste, and none is considered more authentic than another. The components of the mix are toasted, then ground together.
A typical Indian version of garam masala is:
- black & white peppercorns
- cloves
- Cinnamon
- black & white cumin seeds
- black, brown & green cardamom pods
Some recipes call for spices to be blended with herbs, while others for the spices to be ground with water, vinegar, coconut milk, or other liquids, to make a paste. In some recipes nuts, onion or garlic may be added. The flavours may be carefully blended to achieve a balanced effect, or a single flavour may be emphasized. Usually a masala is toasted before use to release its flavours and aromas.
Read more about this topic: Garam Masala
Famous quotes containing the word ingredients:
“In all cultures, the family imprints its members with selfhood. Human experience of identity has two elements; a sense of belonging and a sense of being separate. The laboratory in which these ingredients are mixed and dispensed is the family, the matrix of identity.”
—Salvador Minuchin (20th century)
“This even-handed justice
Commends th’ ingredients of our poisoned chalice
To our own lips.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Reading any collection of a man’s quotations is like eating the ingredients that go into a stew instead of cooking them together in the pot. You eat all the carrots, then all the potatoes, then the meat. You won’t go away hungry, but it’s not quite satisfying. Only a biography, or autobiography, gives you the hot meal.”
—Christopher Buckley, U.S. author. A review of three books of quotations from Newt Gingrich. “Newtie’s Greatest Hits,” The New York Times Book Review (March 12, 1995)