The Four Pillars of Garam Masala

“Garam Masala is so mainstream now, it’s quite ubiquitous.” This came up in conversation at a recent mixer I attended. I truly dislike the term ubiquitous. People who use this word strike me as bougie, pompous and arrogant, tossing fancy four syllable words around to appear cultured and smart. However, I had to agree with that statement, irrespective of how annoyed I was. Garam Masala is found pretty much everywhere in American grocery stores, sold in plastic jars in powdered form. It's tragic to see the mystique, magic and romance gone from this truly magical spice blend.

One of my most treasured possessions is a beautiful hand carved four compartment wooden box. The artisan who crafted this was obviously someone who took great pride in his work. Each compartment contains one of the four spices of the garam masala family; Cinnamon, Cardamom, Cloves and Black pepper. These are the four pillars of Garam Masala, as I like to call them. They basic fact that these four spices get their own special hand carved wooden box treatment explains why Garam Masala is so misunderstood in America today.

Almost every recipe on the internet begins with Coriander and Cumin. Readers automatically assume that those two are the chief ingredients of the spice blend, and that is far from being correct. I was taught during my days apprenticing in the kitchens of the Hotel Oberoi in Mumbai that Garam Masala is a spice blend made from warming spices and these are Cinnamon, Cardamom, Cloves and Black pepper. Garam = Hot and Masala = spice blend. The heat from these spices isn’t like what you experience from capsaicin, like when biting into a serrano pepper. These spices raise the body temperature and warm you from within. Coriander and Cumin do not belong to that category. These are there because they are cheap and easily available and used primarily as filler spices to balance out the potency and harshness of the four pillar spices.

A pre-ground pack of Garam Masala would be considered an act of blasphemy in those kitchens. The true masters of the Indian kitchen always made their own Garam Masala blends, guarding the recipes with their lives. They spent hours agitating iron skillets over low flame, painstakingly toasting each spice individually, then air drying them before grinding to a fine dust. The cooling stage is important as it allows the spice to truly dry up and prevents clumping. 

Garam Masala is a religion in itself, and you could spot the kitchen high priests from a mile away. These were the chefs also tweaked their Garam Masala recipes to pair with the individual dish. The heavy red meat kormas had Black Cardamom in the blend for a nuanced smoky finish, while the chicken dishes called for blends with a little bit of fennel and star anise. The Biryani Garam Masalas contained nutmeg, mace and sometimes, dried rose petals. So seductive! The best practice when using Garam Masala powder is to use it as a finishing spice, sprinkling it over a dish right after the cooking is complete. Make sure to use a pot with a tight fitting lid to trap in those heady and volatile flavors.

When you carve out time to start making your own Garam Masala spice blend from scratch, that’s when you know you have graduated from the basics and are entering the realm of the obsessive compulsive. Welcome. Congratulations. I think?