Hello Mrs. Gupta!

My name is Hanif and I have always wanted to cook Indian food! We have a family friend that makes puri with an aloo curry and she makes her own gharam masala and uses that as one of the main ingredients. It has such a nice flavour to it and I would love to be able make it myself!

When I ask for the recipe she usually replies with, "oh I'll make it for you..." Which usually means, I don't wish to give you the recipe :). That's ok, I will persevere and try it on my own with very helpful sites like yours :).

I wanted to ask you, I was looking at your recipe: Garam Masala and I was a bit confused on some things:

1 tbs. black peppers- is that the round black pepper that we normally use with salt?

1 tsp. cloves-which clove is this? if I ask for a clove at the grocery store, will they understand what I mean?

4-5 large cardamoms-Is this the green shelled ingredient that goes in chai too? do I remove the shell and just use the seeds or the whole thing?

4-5 bay leaves

3 inch cinnamon stick or equivalent small pieces

I don't have a coffee grinder but I do have one of those heavy bowls with a heavy utensil that I can possibly crush everything..... (can't remember the name).... will that suffice?

If I roast all of the above, do I need oil? or just roast it dry?

Once I make it, how do I use it in the actual recipe (say potato curry) instead of just a garnish?

thank you so much Mrs. Gupta!

Hanif

Hello Hanif

I can't understand why your friend will not tell you how to make garam masala! I will answer your questions one by one below.

Garam masala can not be the main ingredient, it will make the curry too strong, perhaps even bitter. It is used at the end of most curries, unless you are using the garam masala ingredients whole, in which case you add them at the beginning, to hot oil.

1 tbs. black peppers (is that the round black pepper that we normally use with salt?) Yes it is.

1 tsp. cloves (which clove is this? if I ask for a clove at the grocery store, will they understand what I mean?") I should hope so! In Hindi/Urdu, it is called lavang or laung

4-5 large cardamoms (Is this the green shelled ingredient that goes in chai too? do I remove the shell and just use the seeds or the whole thing?") No, these are the large brown cardamoms, Badi illaichi and yes you do use them whole, skin and all.

4-5 bay leaves

3 inch cinnamon stick or equivalent small pieces

1-2 tbs. cumin seeds (optional)

Generally, it is added at the end of cooking. Sprinkle on top, close the lid and leave for a while, for the flavours to infuse. Stir it in, before serving. Start with less and add more only if you need it. Do not add a lot of it at once, it is quite strong and can ruin your dish if used too much of.

Hope your Aloo Curry and Poori come out well. They are quite easy to make. If you put your questions on the Forum, there are other visitors there that will always help you out, specially when I am not at home.

Good luck with your cooking Hanif.

Mamta

Wow.... thank you so much Mrs. Gupta..... I hope you don't mind if I bug you every now and then!

thanks again,

Hanif :)

You are welcome Hanif!

Come and visit us on the Forum again and share your cooking experiences, recipes, ideas with all of us. You do not need to join to use the Forum, simply click on the 'Forum' at the top of the page, excatly the same way as you would to use any of the other options above. It is infact better to ask questions on the Forum, as you get many other points of view too.

Mamta

Hey Hanif, I made some Garm masala today and my kitchen is full of it's aroma. Hope your's turns out well. DO let us know if it is better than your friend's masala, you know the one who wouldn't give you her recipe ;-)!

Indeed, I plan to make it very soon. Actually, I wanted to make my wife a nice dinner as a stay home 'date' as we just had our 1 year anniversary

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWKNQ2FdypQ)

This will consist of my heroic efforts at a nice vegetable curry, accompanied by non-congruent sized rotis, finished off with a distastrous attempt at dessert.

But hey its the thought that counts right? ;)

Will post my results soon!

Hanif :)

Sorry that link may appear mal-informed:

it is :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWKNQ2FdypQ

Hanif :)

Nice wedding video Hanif, but did not see the pictures of your attempt at cooking for your wife.

Beautiful pictures of a beautiful couple by the way. May you have a long and happy marriage :-).

Mamta

Hi Mamta, just wanted to say thank you for all your help! Over the weekend, I made dinner for the whole the family. I used your rajma recipe and also made aloo, carrot and peas curry with roti!

Everyone loved it (or so they say :)

I followed your rajma recipe to the tee except I think the cinamon was a bit strong so in my next attempt, perhaps I'll leave that out.

The aloo curry I made slightly differently.. I added mustard seeds, curry leaves, dhania, jeera, haldi and fresh mirchi (the smaller more potent ones). It took me awhile to cook the aloo as I was using a stainless steel pot which was sticking at the bottom (I used oil sparingly as well). We try not to use the cancer causing teflon non-stick pans anymore.

Now the rotis were a bit on the dry, not-so-soft side. Here's what I did:

2 cups whole wheat all purpose flour,

1 cup white flour,

1 tsp salt,

1 tsp coriander chutney,

some fresh coriander

2 tsp haldi

1 tsp oil

water as needed to make the initial ball.

I kneeded the dough into one big ball and set aside for 1/2 hour. Then rolled out small balls into my attempt at making congruent rotis... but they were in all shapes and sizes. Also, I used only a cast iron skillet on lower than usual heat with very very little oil.

I'm wondering why the roti tasted very bread-plain-dry-like? what did I do wrong mamta ji?

Anyhow, it took me about 2 1/2 hours to cook, clean and shoo away my wife and mother who tried to come in and help me.

All in all, my wife was very pleased (as was evident in her affectionate advances that evening ;)

Hanif

p.s - I'm so excited about cooking now...... I'm going to go through more of your recipes and experiment!!

sorry forgot to mention, I added the gharam masala to the curries above AT THE END as you suggested.... although, I didn't make the gharam masala myself... my neighbour did and she gave us some.. it smelled strong of cinamon - perhaps that's why the curry was a bit on the cinamon strong side....

Now that I have the recipe, I'll make it myself and try...

thanks again mamta ji...

Hanif

If you need any recipes that you can't find on this site, perhaps I can help you. Let me know if you need any help.

Hello Hanif

I am glad that your feast came out well. Next time, do le your wife help you, she will probably enjoy working in the kitchen with you. Quality and freshness of spices varies a great deal, so it is very difficult to specify exact amounts. It is possible that your cinnamon was quite fresh and of a good quality than the average one sold in shops. Chillies are perhaps the best example of this. In Indian shops, varieties are not given by name and can vary a great deal. It is always better to add a little less and then adjust later. The small ones you mention, were probably ‘Bird eye’ chillies. Kashmiri chillies can also be hot.

Aloo bhaji ( and all other bhajies) can be made with many variations. Your version, used mostly by people in South and East India, is also vary nice. Next time try using Panch Pooran or even nigella seeds on their own, for tarka. This gives yet another flavour.

Food cooked in stainless steel pans does tend to stick a bit more, unless they are of very good quality and heavy bottomed. Cast iron pans can also be good, as used by our mothers and grandmothers, before the days of non-stick pans. Some heavy duty aluminium pans/woks are very good too. I am afraid, I use good quality non-stick pans for a lot of my cooking!

Shapes and sizes of roti do not matter. They will get round as you become practised at rolling them out. Keep trying. As for hard roties, see the bottom of the page at Chapatti/Roti, I have given advise on keeping roties soft. Your ingredients seem fine, except I don’t generally add oil or turmeric to roti dough.

Good luck with other recipes. I can remember the excitement I used to feel when I first started cooking, specially if things turned out well !

Mamta