Kerala Garam Masala

http://www.vazhayila.com/2011/08/homemade-garam-masala-kerala-style.html

Two Recipes for Homemade Kerala style  Garam masala Powder

Total cooking time :- 10 minutes

Yields :- 1 small jar

Ingredients:-

Cardamom - 40 nos( green)

Cloves - 35 nos

Cinnamon Stick - 2 or 3

Star anise - 1 

Nutmeg - 1/2 of a whole one ,or you can use one full, if you like.

Optional items

Fennel seeds - 1/4 cup

Black pepper - 2 table spoon

Mace - 2 or 3

Directions:-

Method 1

Arrange all the spices in a baking sheet and sun dry an hour . Grind it to a fine powder in the small jar of your mixie or coffee grinder. Or you can just grind it without keeping in the sun.( just crush the cinnamon in a mortar and pestle before grinding)

Method 2

Heat a small skillet and add all the spices , and fry for 2- minutes . let it come to room temperature and then grind it to a powder. I normally prefer a bit coarse powder . This works best for all nadan meat fry .

For a mild flavor you can follow the method with just cinnamon , cardamom and cloves . This recipe gives you a small jar (as shown in the picture) of garam masala. Its more flavorful when made fresh , since its a tiresome task to do this in the process of making a curry , i stock this small jar always.