First lesson of Indian cooking - not all brown powders are curry powder.
Second lesson - don't confuse heat and warmth. Especially in Indian cuisine, they are wildly different concepts.
Third lesson - Indian cooking is a deliciously inexact science. Embrace its freewheeling approach and all of your cooking, Indian and otherwise, will be better.
And all of that is why I want to introduce you to garam masala, a widely available, yet little used (in the U.S.) seasoning blend from northern India. Like so many Indian spice blends, there is no set recipe for garam masala. The ingredients can vary tremendously by region and cook. But in general, it usually contains a mix of spices that are at once sweet and warming - coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin and black pepper.
By warming, I mean the flavor has a fullness without acidity or sharp flavors. Think spice cookies and gingerbread minus the sugar. This is different than the spicy heat we associate with chili peppers.
That's a flavor profile not common to American cooking, but the wonders it works on roasted meats and vegetables make it worth changing that.
Garam masala differs from many spice blends in that the whole spices are toasted before being ground together. Why do you care? Most spice blends, especially from India, are intended to be heated before use to draw out their flavor. This means they need to be added at the start of a recipe.
But because garam masala already is toasted, it can be used as a condiment on meats, cooked grains, even breads and yogurt dips. For ideas for using garam masala, check out the Off the Beaten Aisle column over on Food Network.
Smashed and Roasted Garam Masala Potatoes.
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