Black Masala Spice Blend from Mother Tongue

"Kala masala - to use its Marathi name - is a darkly roasted sweetly nutty and earthy spice blend from the West Indian state of Maharashtra. Slightly mellower than garam masala, it's more aromatically nuanced, with coconut imparting toastiness and black cardamom a slight smokiness. This is a staple in many Maharashtrian vegetable curries, dals, and fish dishes, but is also delicious in biryanis, used as a marinade for meats and for sprinkling into yogurt raitas."

- Gurdeep Loyal

This black masala spice blend is an Indian flavor bomb you don't want to miss. Use it to experiment with something new or go with what you already know. We definitely recommend the biryani.

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Mother Tongue

This black masala spice blend comes from Mother Tongue: Flavours of a Second Generation by Gurdeep Loyal.

There are many books about the science of flavour, but this is not one of them. Instead, my 'flavour chords' approach is rooted in culinary instincts taught to me through my ancestry of Punjabi mothers. This honed intuition has driven my creativity in the kitchen, culminating in three connected mantras that are my food principles today, that all home cooks, anywhere in the world, of any ability, can also joyfully embrace:

1. Amplify Your Pantry
2. Embed Global Ingredients to Your Palate Through Tasting
3. Combine Flavour Notes Into Flavour Chords

To think about this approach practically, let's take the classic Italian flavour combination of tomato-garlic-basil in a simple sauce. It is a harmonious combination in itself, almost nothing could be better. But if you wanted to take this flavour chord into a third-culture direction, you could simply apply the three core principles above to give a hybrid spin on things.

Black Masala Spice Blend

Ingredients

• desiccated coconut
• white sesame seeds
• coriander seeds
• chilli flakes
• cumin seeds
• black peppercorns
• cloves
• caraway seeds
• fennel seeds
• cardamom pods - green and black
• cinnamon stick
• star anise
• black mustard seeds
• black cumin seeds
• anardana powder

Equipment

• prep bowls
• measuring spoons or spice spoons
• kitchen scale
• molcajete, spice grinder, or blender
• spatula or spoon
• small saucepan

Weigh or Measure the Ingredients

Use a kitchen scale to weigh the coconut. Use measuring spoons to add the remaining ingredients to a clean bowl, minus the white sesame seeds.

Dry Pan-Roast the Coconut

Transfer the coconut to a small saucepan. Turn the heat to medium. Dry pan-roast the coconut until it starts to change color. Transfer the coconut to a bowl.

Dry Pan-Roast the Sesame Seeds

Repeat with the white sesame seeds. Transfer to the bowl with the coconut when finished.

Dry Pan-Roast the Remaining Ingredients

Add the remaining ingredients to the saucepan. Dry pan-roast the ingredients for 1 to 2 minutes, or until they release their aromas. Turn off the stove when finished. Transfer to the bowl with the coconut. Let the ingredients cool.

Grind Everything to a Fine Powder

Transfer the masala spice blend ingredients to a molcajete, spice grinder, or blender. Blitz to a fine powder.

Store your spice blend in an airtight container or, even better, use it right away to make something unforgettable.