Tandoori and Masala

Thank you Paula at LakeSchooling for the simple reminder of something so wonderful!

What is Tandoori?  Besides – FAAABULOUS – tandoori recipes and cooking comes from the name of the cylindrical clay oven used in southern and central Asia.

There aren’t many of these types of stoves used in cooking in the United States.  Fire regulations make them impossible, or impractical, and cooking in them is an art. An art I SO don’t have — but the process of using the tandoor lead to an entire realm of cooking called Tandoori.  Traditional naan bread is made this way — can you imagine the art of getting the dough just right to stick to the sides and being dextrous enough to handle the pats of naan as they cook!  Only in my dreams.

But – and I have a really big but – I LOVE the flavors of Tandoori masala, the mix of spices traditionally used in a Tandoori masala.

Making the masala is really simple.  All you need are the spices and a coffee grinder.  Acquiring the spices can be a ton of fun, but if you don’t shop around it can get really expensive.  Thankfully there are a couple of really good online options.  If price is not a problem, I love Penzeys (thank you kitchen goddess Ellen Woodhouse).  They have everything and it is top-notch stuff.  Plus their photos give good references for what it is you are actually identifying.  For example – I had NO idea what an actual nutmeg nut looked like before I started making Tandoori masala.

Here is what you will need (generally) to make a traditional garam masala used inmost Tandoori cooking:

• coriander seeds (4 parts)
• peppercorns (2 parts)
• caraway seeds (2 parts)
• cardamom seeds w/o husk (1 part)
• cumin seeds (1 part)
• cloves (1 part)
• cinnamon stick (1 part)
• nutmeg nuts (1 part): 1 oz bag should be about $3 and will last you a VERY long time (3 whole nuts)
• mace blades (1 part)
• star anise or regular anise* same pricing as nutmeg – very potent spice won’t need much!
• fennel seeds *
• marati moggu*: this is pricey
• bay leaves*

Here’s what stuff looks like.

* These spices are in the family of masala spices.  I generally do not use them in my grinds.  This is just personal taste and because I am a cheap skate!

The recipe above is done in parts.  This means you control how big a part is – based on how big of a batch you want to make.  The parts above if blended together will be enough to make an enormous bowl of mixed veg or rub 2 whole chickens.

The best part of making masala is the prep.  Put the parts you have collected above into the oven and warm on low until you can smell them in the house.  Let yourself take in the aroma — it is MESMERIZING!!  When the spices and seeds are toasty warm then set to blending them in the coffee grinder — make sure you have cleaned your grinder!! I have a coffee grinder I use only for spices.  You don’t want coffee grounds in your masala.

Now you have your masala.  Put it into any spice jar, like you would any other spice.  When you want to use the masala you can rub onto meats directly, or mix with an olive oil to brush on vegetables, or some mix the masala with plain yogurt and bake with fish.  Taste as you go adding cayenne to dry rubs or chile sauce to oil or yogurt preparations.  There are no hard and fast rules — experiment and make your own discoveries!

A very cool Tandoor site that explains a lot more about the actual original type of tandoor stove and how to make and use them: Click Here.

Also, there is an old movie with Denzel Washington in it named Mississippi Masala that talks about what a masala is – good flick to get on Netflix or Red Box.