February Spice Club: Garam Masala
- Caroline Shaltz Toplanaj
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
Garam Masala is a spice blend from the Indian subcontinent used in Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nepalese, and Caribbean cuisines. A typical blend will have black peppercorns, mace, clove, cinnamon, black and green cardamom, and nutmeg. Blends vary from region to region and personal preference. This month’s Spice Club kits contained this North Indian blend, which includes all the spices listed above, plus bay leaves, ginger, coriander, and cumin.
Pakora is a popular street food served in India. Vegetables are coated in a garam masala batter and deep-fried. With this Creamy Pakora Cauliflower Soup recipe, you can easily recreate the flavors of pakora at home. Try swapping in different veggies, or just use up the veggies you have in your freezer.
Chicken Tikka Masala is arguably the most popular and widely known Indian dish. It is
believed to have been invented by South Asian chefs in the United Kingdom. This Crockpot Chicken Tikka Masala uses a crock pot to slow-cook the chicken in a creamy yogurt curry sauce, which relies heavily on garam masala. Swap out the chicken for paneer to make this dish vegetarian.
If you are looking for a dish high in protein and flavor, I recommend Paneer & Fenugreek Seeds Curry. Just one tablespoon of fenugreek seeds has 2.6 grams of protein! Add as much or as little spice as you like and serve over warm rice.
RECIPES
Today’s blog post was written by Caroline Shaltz Toplanaj, librarian at RHPL.