Punjabi Masala

Most of the punjabi dishes require various spices, and it's quite time consuming to start from scratch. So I usually have this masala ready to add to the recipes. The name came from the one & only cooking class I took long back. They used only 4 ingredients; I have added many more over the time, and here is my version of it.

Ingredients

• Cloves - 5
• Green Cardamom - 3
• Cinnamon Stick - 3/4"
• Black Pepper seeds - 4

(Optional)

• Bay leaf - 1
• Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
• Caraway seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Nutmeg (coarsely crushed) - 1/4 tsp
• Carom seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Black Cardamom - 1

Method

• In a kadhai (wok), take all the spices.
• Add more spices if you want, and adjust the quantity according to your taste.
• Roast them on a medium flame for 5-7 minutes or until it starts giving nice aroma.
• Take off the flame.
• Grind it in a mixie to make a powder. The masala is ready to use.

Note
Many pulav recipes require adding these spices, and some people may not like those big pieces of cinnamon sticks or whole cardamoms. In that case you can add this masala instead.