Bengali garam masala recipe | Gorom moshola | Bengali garam masala powder

Bengali garam masala recipe aka gorom moshola is one of the most important and flavourful spice mix of Bengali culinary. This spice mix has unforgettable contribution to the Bengali cuisine. A generous pinch of Bengali garam masala powder at the final stage of cooking, takes the dish one step ahead. Bengali garam masala is basically the spice mixture of three different whole spices – cardamom, cinnamon sticks and cloves which all together creates an outstanding aroma. These whole spices and the ground spice mix are vastly used in the subcontinents of east India and Bangladesh. It is a very quick and easy DIY Recipe with the help of which you can enhance the flavour of your food.

About the recipe
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How to make Bengali garam masala (step wise photos)
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Garam masala is one of the most important spice mix of Indian culinary. In fact, most of the Indian food is incomplete without this magical spice mix. In India, many variations are there of garam masala like Punjabi garam masala, kashmiri garam masala, Bengali garam masala etc. Punjabi garam masala is the soul of north Indian food and its flavour is quite complex. There is a big collection of spices that are used to prepare the Punjabi version of garam masala. On the other hand, the Bengali garam masala powder recipe is much more simpler and easier. It contains only three different types of whole spices and sweeter in flavour too which always complement Bengali food.

Though the basic ingredients for the Bengali garam masala aka gorom moshla is same. But in every Bengali house, they have their own version of the spice mix recipe. The proportion of these three spices for the recipe varies in every Bengali household. Even few people prefer to add bay leaves into this spice mix and few do not. In this post, I have shared my own version of Bengali garam masala recipe.

I am a Bong and I have seen huge usage of gorom moshola in different vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes since my childhood. The most common spices that I have seen my mom to use are ‘Cumin’ and ‘Bengali garam masala’. Most of the times, she used to temper many fish curries, dalna, ghonto and dals with these three whole spices- cardamom, cinnamon stick, cloves. This special spice mix is added at the final stage of cooking with some ghee and little bit of sugar to give the traditional touch. She always used to tell me that panch phoran recipe and Bengali garam masala powder are one of the top priority spice mixes of Bengali kitchen pantry. So, she always insisted me to have a spare bottle of these essential ground spices in my pantry.

In today’s world, DIY recipe has become very trendy. There are many valid reasons behind it. One of the main reasons is health awareness. It is only in exchange of a little effort that few things can be made better than the market selling goods. Today, though many things are easily available globally but still in many cases, DIY Recipe helps a lot to elevate the authenticity of many traditional foods.

I always prepare fresh batch of Bengali garam masala every 3 months. I can’t imagine a single day without this warm and fragrant spice mix. Though I have readymade Punjabi garam masala powder in my kitchen but when it comes to Bengali garam masala, I always go for the homemade version. There is a huge difference between readymade and homemade spice mix. The homemade gorom moshla is much stronger in flavour as compared to the readymade one.

Bengali garam masala recipe is a very quick and easy recipe which hardly takes 10 minutes to get prepared. All the ingredients required to prepare this aromatic masala are easily available in any Indian grocery store.

Bengali garam masala with step by step photos and instructions have been provided in the ‘Instruction’ section of the recipe. But before directly jumping into the recipe, let me share few interesting facts about the recipe.

• It is very important to use clean and good quality whole spices for the recipe.
• Always use heavy bottom pan like tawa, kadai or fry pan to dry roast the spices.
• Make sure there is no moisture in the utensil and please don’t use wet hands to add the spices into the pan.
• Break the cardamom partially so that the cardamom pods can get roasted slightly.
• Always roast the spices in medium low to medium flame. Don’t roast it over high flame, or else the spices may get burnt.
• Stir the spices continuously during the time of roasting or else it will not get roasted evenly.
• Allow the spice mix to cool down completely to room temperature before grinding.
• If you are preparing the masala in huge quantity, then it’s better to dry roast each spice individually because every spice’s roasting time differ from each other.

Each individual whole spice plays a vital role to prepare the quintessential spice mix.

Green cardamom: It provides a soothing aroma to the spice mix.

Cinnamon stick: It provides sweetness and flavour to the spice mix.

Cloves: It provides slightly pungent taste and flavour to the masala.

In Bengali cuisine, Bengali garam masala has occupied an important part in flavouring food. Other than curries, it is also used to flavour up rice items and to marinate meat. Here, I am sharing few of my dishes where I have used Bengali garam masala recipe.

Niramish aloo dum
Potol posto
Mocha ghonto
Chanar dalna
Phulkopir roast
Aloo potoler dalna
Aloo phulkopir dalna
Echor chingri
Mutton kosha
Mete chorchori
Bhoger khichuri
Bhuni khichuri

To prepare the Bengali garam masala recipe, I have used high quality organic cardamoms, cinnamon sticks and cloves. Break the green cardamoms partially before roasting.

To prepare the Bengali garam masala powder, first put a heavy bottom pan on flame and make it completely dry. When the pan gets warm, add cinnamon sticks, green cardamom, cloves and roast them over medium flame for 2-3 minutes. In this spice mix, roasting the whole spices is not important. This step is done just to reduce the dampness of the whole spices.

After roasting the spices, it is very important to transfer them on a separate plate. If you keep the spices in the hot pan, then the spices will either get over roasted or can also get burnt. Allow the spices to come to room temperature.

One more thing that needs to be taken care of during preparing the Bengali garam masala powder is that the roasted whole spices must come to room temperature before grinding it. If you grind the warm spice mixture, then the garam masala powder will become damp. The shelf life of the spice powder will become lesser, and lumps would also occur.

Transfer the roasted spices into a jar of grinder and close the lid of the jar. Pulse it to a fine dust. Transfer the spice powder to an air tight container.

Many other homemade masala recipes have already been shared in my previous posts. You can check few of them like

Bengali bhaja masala
Roasted Cumin Powder
Panch phoran masala

..And Many more…

• 6 grams green Cardamoms (choti Elaichi)
• 4 grams Cinnamon stick (Dalchini)
• 3 grams Cloves (Laung)

1. First break the green cardamoms partially before roasting.
2. Put a pan on medium flame and allow it to become completely dry.
3. When the pan gets warm, add 6 grams green cardamoms, 4 grams cinnamon sticks, 3 grams cloves into the pan and roast them over medium flame for 2-3 minutes. Stir continuously.Note: Always roast the whole spices over medium low to medium flame. Don’t roast them over high flame or else the spices may get burnt.
4. After roasting the spices, transfer them on a separate plate and allow it to come to room temperature.
5. Transfer the roasted spices into a jar of grinder and close the lid of the jar. Pulse it to a fine dust.
6. Transfer the spice powder to an air tight container.

After grinding the Bengali garam masala, you can keep it in a clean and dry airtight container. Glass container would be the best. Keep the spice in a cool and dry place, away from direct sunlight. Always use dry spoon for the spice. If you follow all these things, then you can store the spice for 3-4 months.

Bengali garam masala recipe | Gorom moshola | Bengali garam masala powder

Serves: 13 grams (approx) Prep Time: 15 Minutes (Including the cooling time of the spice) Cooking Time: 2 Minutes 2 Minutes

Nutrition facts: NA calories NA fat

Rating: 4.5/5

( 4 voted )

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Ingredients

• 6 grams green Cardamoms (choti Elaichi)
• 4 grams Cinnamon stick (Dalchini)
• 3 grams Cloves (Laung)

Instructions

1. First break the green cardamoms partially before roasting.
2. Put a pan on medium flame and allow it to become completely dry.
3. When the pan gets warm, add 6 grams green cardamoms, 4 grams cinnamon sticks, 3 grams cloves into the pan and roast them over medium flame for 2-3 minutes. Stir continuously.

Note: Always roast the whole spices over medium low to medium flame. Don’t roast them over high flame or else the spices may get burnt.

4. After roasting the spices, transfer them on a separate plate and allow it to come to room temperature.
5. Transfer the roasted spices into a jar of grinder and close the lid of the jar. Pulse it to a fine dust.
6. Transfer the spice powder to an air tight container.

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