How to make Garam Masala Powder at Home?

How to Prepare Garam Masala Powder?

This is a question everyone asks  but would not take trouble to make at home. t is available in all the shops big and small from Groceries shops to big supermarkets.

The name Garam masala, is very well known to all who cooks and likes spicy food. It is very easy to make at home and very cheaper too.

You can make it in smaller quantities and use as and when it is needed.

The ingredients you need  to make Garam Masala are 

25 cloves,

25 green cardamoms

10 bits of mace

10 cinnamon sticks about 1" long

10-12 black cardamoms

2 nutmeg

8 bay leaves

8 tsps cumin seeds

24 black peppercorns

How to prepare the Garam Masala Powder

 Heat a fry pan, add all the ingredients for the Garam Masala  in to the pan. 

Dry Roast , that is without oil,  till the ingredients get hot to the touch. 

Cool a little so as to bring it down to the room temperature. 

Grind it in a mixie to a nice powder.

Store in airtight container. You can get about 100 grams of Garam Masala Powder with these ingredients. 

Handy Tips in Kitchen

To preserve wheat, add kasoori methi ( Dried fenugreek leaves ) to it and store in an airtight container.Wheat will not go bad for a longer period.


To preserve Tamarind, you have to clean and remove the strings and seeds. Then roll them into small balls store in an ceramic or clay vessel. If you add a little rock salt to that it will stay for a longer period.

If you put in a little peppercorns in to the vessel which you use for storing the ghee, the ghee will not get rancid or spoiled.

While storing eggs do remember to put the broader part of the eggs upwards facing you. The eggs will stay fresh longer.

While storing cashewnuts add a clove or two in o the bottle. The cashewnuts will stay fresh longer.

To save coconut oil from getting rancid or smelly add a piece of jaggery (achu vellam) in to the jar containing oil.

How to Make Hot and Spicy French Toast

Ingredients:
8 bread slices
4 potatoes
1/2 tsp chopped ginger
1 tsp chopped coriander leaves
1/4 tsp salt or as per taste
1/2 tsp chopped green chillies
2 eggs beaten
1/4 cup oil 

Method
Boil, peel and mash potatoes nicely
Mix salt, chopped ginger, chopped green chillies and coriander leaves to the mashed potatoes. Keep aside.
Take the bread slices. Remove the crumbs from the sides.
Put the filling on to one slice and cover with another slice. Press them nicely and then cut them in to squares or triangles.
Apply the beaten egg on the outside of the slices and shallow fry in the oil.
Remove when they are golden and crispy.
Serve with Tomato Sauce or Ketch up as an evening snack or the unexpected guests .

How to Make Rasam Powder at Home

Ingredients:
3/4 cup coriander seeds
1/2 cup cumin seeds
1/2 cup pepper corns
1 tsp red chilli powder / 6 red chillies
1/4 cup Tuardal
1/4 cup channa Dal

Method:
Roast all these ingredients separately. Bring it to room temperature and then grind to a powder in a mixer.
let the powder cool and then store in a airtight container.
While roasting you can add a little oil for that nice colour and flavour. Home made rasam powders are the best for good smelling flavoured rasam.

Note:
I do not add asafoetida for the powder as I like to add fresh whenever I make rasam.
I will follow this post with my favourite rasam recipes.

How to Prepare and Preserve Tamarind Paste

We need tamarind paste in our daily cooking for almost all of our South Indian dishes, like Sambar, Vathal Kuzhambu, Kara Kuzhambu, Rasam, Kerala Style Theeyal etc.

It is very easy to prepare and preserve the paste for easy use. The only thing is that you have to store in a refrigerator as we do not use any preservative.

Method 1:
Take about 1/2 kg or 500 grams of tamarind. Remove all theseeds and the extra strings as much as you see and clean. Using a juice extractor extract juice from the tamarind, adding a little water. Strain the tamarind juice, add 1/2 cup salt  and 1 tsp turmeric powder.
Cook it starts boiling and simmer it till the mix gets thick. Let cool. Store in a airtight glass container (use an empty pickle bottle, if you do not have containers) and refrigerate.  This will last for at least 2 months.

Method 2:
If you have a microwave at home you can use that also for making tamarind paste.
Take 250 grams of the tamarind, clean and remove the tamarind of the seeds and the strings.
Put it in a glass bowl with a cup of water  add a tablespoon salt and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder.
Cook in high heat for about 5 minutes. Check if it is cooked nicely and got thick, if not cook it for a minute or more.
Cool and then store in a glass container, even a empty pickle bottle will do.

Note:
1. This tamarind paste, you can take use while making our daily curries and rasam. You need not have to soak the tamarind, strain the pulp daily for our daily cooking.
2. If you have a microwave you can even do it in smaller amount you need for the month.
3. You need to use only one teaspoon of the paste if you are cooking just for the two of you. Use the paste and adjust as per your taste
4. You can add it even after the cooking is over. The raw smell will not be there as the paste is already cooked.

How to make a Perfect Paratha

Knead the dough as for the chappathies and keep aside for an hour.  Divide the dough as given in the recipe into uniform sized balls.

Triangular shaped layered  Parathas are the most common ones found in almost every household in India.
This is made by rolling the balls into a small circle first. Either apply ghee onto the circle or if you are counting calories sprinkle a little flour.

Fold the circle diametrically at the centre and then fold again to get a triangle.
Apply a little flour onto the flat surface where you will be shapping the parathas. Slowly with  light hands roll out the triangles into thin parathas.

Heat the griddle or the tava, keep the flame in the medium, put in one paratha and leave for about 25-30 seconds. as soon as it starts blistering on the top flip the paratha and cook the other side. Apply a little oil on the top ( preferably Ghee) . Remove from the tava and store one above the other, in an airtight casserole to keep them hot till you serve.

Note :
Serve with any spicy curry like Dal Makhni, , Ginger Chicken etc

How to Knead Dough for Chappathi

Kneading a dough for Chappathies is not difficult, when you think of it , but very tiring, that's all. I have been kneading the dough in my Ultra Grinder Wet Grinder. When the power fails you have to knead it with hands.

Method for Basic Dough

Take about 2 cups of whole wheat flour with a pinch of salt, if you like. take about 3/4ths cup of water and a little extra water ready if you need it.

Pour water little by little and gather the flour little by little, with your hand. Do not pour water all at once. The kneading will not come out right and the gluten will also not form properly.
Slowly gather all the flour adding the 3/4ths cup of water. By the time you finish gathering all the flour into a ball,  the water would also have got over.  If it gets over soon sprinkle a little extra water, as you knead.

Push the flour with your heel of your hand, stretching the dough away from you and then gathering  it again, repeat the same process till you get a soft and pliable dough. It might take you about 10 minutes to finish off kneading.
Once you knead the dough, cover it with a moist cloth and leave it aside  for an hour at least,. After that you can divide the dough into uniformed sized balls and roll them out into chappathies. Fry them on the tava with or without oil. You can have your chappathies now with any side dish you love.

How to Extract Coconut Milk

The post has been shifted to 

How to Extract Coconut milk ?   at the 

Latha's Corner 

Rules to be followed while choosing food

Eat as many coloured vegetables as you can . Buy vegetables and fruits like capsicums ( red, green and yellow ), carrots, cabbages white and red, different coloured Apples etc mix them up in salads, side dishes and so on.
They give you as many different phytochemicals as possible if you can add all of them and mix them up.
Variety is the sppice of life and we all agree to that isn't it?
Do that for eating also. Mix up vegetables and fruits with your fast foods , non vegetarian items etc. You will get enough vitamins and minerals through that.
Try out new recipes from different cuisines, not only that they taste different, their mix will be different and their values will be different.
While eating always have one from each group, carbohydrates, Proteins, Vitamins & Minerals.
Use herbs and spices for flavouring instead of salt, pepper, chilli powder and sugar.
Avoid buying and eating anything which is man made and prepacked, with this rule you can avoid most of the processed goods which are really bad for health. Think of what your great grandmother and grandmother would have given you if they were alive.
Those are the good and healthy foods which is very close to nature.
The main thing is to teach children to stay away from the endorsements which the celebrities make. Will your advertisers really eat them ? Have you ever really thought about it? No they will not. For example they advertise for aerated drinks, but will they ever drink them? I don't think so.
Children are the ones who fall for the advertisements and ask for those products. Teach children, tell them about the products or just give them once or twice in a month to satisfy them.