Food personality and cookbook author Sapna Nair is a dab hand at making homemade garam masala, but there are a few variations that have a special place in her heart.
Her favourite is her family’s Kerala style garam masala – which is what she grew up with. She often incorporates the mix into a delightful Kerala-style nadan chicken curry, which is simple yet warm and radiates a gentle, spice-riddled undercurrent.
“The spice mix is heavy on fennel, green cardamom, nutmeg and coriander powder – those are the main spices that are from Kerala. So the chicken curry is a dear recipe which only has some onions, tomatoes and coconut milk, which the garam masala helps accentuate,” she says.
Then there is her keema or mutton garam masala, which can be used in any mutton dish because it has black cardamom in it, which Sapna says helps enhance the flavour of mutton. This works a trick because her mutton keema is bright, bold and feisty, with the cardamom lending it a powerfully aromatic jolt and boost.
Over the past few years, Sapna has become particularly interested in learning more about spices and spice mixes in India and is hoping to write a book about it one day. She also runs culinary trips around India, where she takes visitors and tourists to spice farms so that they can have a more tactile experience and understand these spices for themselves.
“I’ve been wanting to do this for many years and I’ve slowly managed to find the time now to go back to India to visit cardamom and pepper farms and places where nutmeg and mace are grown. So right now, I’m focusing on what is growing in the south and I am hoping that I get a chance to do this region by region and eventually write a book about this. That’s on my wish list, so let’s see where it goes,” she says.
KERALA STYLE GARAM MASALA
Yields approximately 60 to 70 g
1 tbsp coriander seeds
3 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 to 5 whole green cardamom
2 small cassia or cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
4 to 5 cloves
4 star anise
2.5cm nutmeg or 1 tsp nutmeg powder
To make Kerala garam masala
Slow roast each spice on low heat, until warm to the touch.
Bring it to room temperature, blend using a spice blender to a fine powder. Store in an airtight container.
NADAN CHICKEN CURRY
For the marination
1 kg chicken, cut into medium sized pieces
salt to taste
½ tsp turmeric powder
pinch of black pepper
squeeze of ½ a lime (1 tsp)
1 tbsp Kerala garam masala
Marinate the chicken with all the other ingredients and set aside.
For the curry
4 tbsp coconut oil
1 green chilli split (optional)
sprig of curry leaves
1 large red onion or handful shallots, finely chopped
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 large tomato finely chopped
1/3 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 heaped tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp Kerala garam masala
salt to taste
½ cup thick coconut milk with ½ cup water
handful of coriander leaves and curry leaves for garnish
To make curry
Heat coconut oil on medium heat, add in the green chilli, curry leaves, finely chopped onions and ginger and garlic paste. Cook till slightly brown – the light caramelisation adds flavour to the dish. Do not rush this process or burn the onions.
Add the tomatoes followed by all the powdered spices. The liquid in the tomatoes, will ensure the spices do not burn. The tomatoes have to be slow cooked until soft and mushy and oil starts to emerge at the sides.
Add the marinated chicken. Coat the chicken in the masala. Add salt and stir to combine.
Dilute the thick coconut milk with water and cook with lid on till chicken is fully cooked. Do not add too much water.
Additionally, towards the end, add 2 tbsp of thick coconut milk to lend creaminess to the curry if needed.
Add coriander leaves for garnish, a pinch of garam masala and eat with hot rice, paratha, appam or chapati.
KEEMA KA GARAM MASALA
Yields approx 25 to 30 g
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp fennel seeds
2 medium-sized cinnamon sticks
4 star anise
6 to 8 cloves
10g green cardamom
2 black cardamom
1 tsp nutmeg powder or 1.2cm fresh nutmeg
2 bay leaves
1 thin sliver of mace
4 to 10 black peppercorns
1 to 2 Kashmiri or any dry chilli (add or skip chillies based on the spice level you like)
To make
To make the masala, slow roast all spice on low heat, it should be just warm to the touch. Over-heating will result in a dark bitter spice mix.
Cool to room temperature before grinding in a spice mixer to smooth powder. Store in an airtight dry container away from sunlight.
Tip: this spice mix can be used for any mutton curries and chicken curries too.
KEEMA MASALA
250g minced lamb or mutton
2 tbsp ghee or cooking oil
1 large red onion finely sliced
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/3 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (optional)
1 tbsp Keema garam masala
salt to taste
mint leaves for garnish
wedge of lime
To make
Heat ghee on low heat, add the finely chopped onions, ginger and garlic paste and a pinch of salt. Add the tomato paste once the onions have turned lightly brown.
Mix well, add the turmeric powder, garam masala and more chilli powder if needed to spice it up.
Add the minced meat, salt to taste and cook until the meat cooks and the excess liquid evaporates to get a dry mix.
Add chopped mint and mix well. Serve hot with a wedge of lime.
