cardamoms: Cardamoms are one of the ingredients of garam- masala and are used in flavoring and to give sweet fragrance to a great many Indian sweetmeats and curried dishes. They are of two kinds — large dark brown^ and small pale green. Either type may be used, though the dark brown variety is mainly used for flavoring sweetmeats. Cardamoms are obtainable from Indian grocery stores and some vegetarian food stores.
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| good jarful of garam-masala with hot tasty |
Method:
Sort the peppercorns, coriander seeds (dhania), caraway seeds and cloves, and remove the skin from the cardamoms.
Mix, and grind them fairly finely (not powdery) in a coffee grinder. Mix in the ground cinnamon, and keep the garam-masala in an air-tight jar. Garam-masala is used in most Indian curried dishes, giving extra taste and fragrance to the food.
Cardamoms can be obtained from Indian grocers, while the rest of the ingredients are purchasable from local chemists and grocers.
Ready-to-use garam-masala is sold by the Indian grocers, but the fragrance and taste of home-made masala are well worth the trouble was taken.
BESAN: This is the name gi. en to flour made from Chana dal (a split Bengal pulse). It can be bought from the Indian grocers, but I have ground yellow split peas from local shops, and have found that it makes an excellent substitute for besan. I have also ground dal Berhad (a small black bean, split) and red lentils for making mongdrhis and papers (poppadum's).
equally well for this purpose, but should be kept adjusted for finest grinding possible.
pulses: We use a variety of pulses in India, but the following, which can all be obtained in Great Britain from Indian grocers, are those most commonly used in Punjab.
Whole Berhad: A very small black bean, which is used just as it is.
Ddl Berhad: The whole had, split. It can be used either with its husk or without it, in which case it is white.
Ddl Moong: Very like dal u Berhad, but the husk is green. It, too, maybe used with or without its husk, and it cooks quickly. I have found English red lentils a good substitute for this.
Kabli Channas: A kind of dried pea, of a pale biscuit colour. There is another kind, dark brown and slightly smaller, which is a good alternative.
Ddl Channa: The small brown changes, split. Similar to the English split pea, which can quite well be substituted for it.
TAMARIND (email): Tamarind pulp, or tamarind in syrup, is not suitable for our purpose, but a definite order to your chemist should enable you to get from him the dry tamarind, i.e., proper fruit with fibre and all; and of course, it can be obtained from the Indian grocers in London. Sometimes it is slightly gritty and should be rinsed before using.
ginger: Fresh ginger, when in season, can be got from the Indian grocers, and I have found that root ginger when well soaked beforehand, has almost the same flavour as fresh ginger.
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