Dhansak masala powder

When I made garam masala to send as part of my Blogging By Post parcel, I also took the opportunity to make some dhansak masala for myself. The basic recipe is from here but I added a couple or three items extra to the list.

This recipe makes about 6 tbsp of masala powder. Store tightly sealed in a tin or box. Also use this masala sparingly because it is VERY strong. The flavour can be overwhelming if you use a large dollop of it the way one sees non-Indian chefs do it on cookery programmes (at least they do here in the UK). A little of this masala goes a long way. And makes fantastic dhansak, I might add.

(Oh by the way, I'm only going to mention in passing that dhansak is a typically Parsi dish. There's plenty of info about Parsis and their lovely cuisine floating around the Net so I wont bother to go on about it here! There. I'm done.)

Recipe for: Dhansak masala powder

Ingredients:

8-10 dry red chillies (reduce or even omit if you dont like chillies)
2 tsp cumin seeds
5 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 dried bay leaves
6 tsp fennel seeds
4" piece cinnamon stick
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp cardamom seeds
Seeds of 1 black cardamom
4 cloves
1 tsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder

Method:

1. Dry roast all the items (minus the nutmeg powder) one by one on a medium flame till they become aromatic.

2. Let them all cool down, then grind to as fine a powder as possible. Store in a tightly sealed jar for maximum freshness.