Garam Masala – the “new” Seasoning for Pumpkin
Pumpkin pie spice is good if overcooked. But there is another mixture that deserves your attention. Let me introduce you to garam masala: it has everything you love about the “pumpkin” range, in addition to some other key players. With these few familiar ingredients to switch, you’ll wonder why you haven’t done it before. Get ready for some exciting fall baking.
Garam masala is a warming spice blend born in Indian cuisine and it usually consists of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, pepper, and cumin, although, depending on the manufacturer, there may be some nutmeg, mace, star anise, turmeric, or fenugreek in there. too. Perhaps out of the top five spices, the cumin list got you thinking. All I can say is it’s not what you think. The cumin comes out as a warm, earthy flavor, like cinnamon, and not at all like a bowl of beef chili as one might expect.
I first used garam masala in baking last holiday season in my gingerbread cookies. All I had was cinnamon, and for good gingerbread cookies, that just isn’t enough—they call for a deep, dark, and complex flavor. I rummaged through my spice cabinet to the bare shelves, and instinct (with a touch of desperation) told me to go to the list of ingredients on my garam masala. It had a few spices I needed, including cinnamon and cloves, followed by a star-studded band of cardamom, cumin, and coriander teammates. You will never hear me speak out against cardamom (hell, I think we should be using it more ). The coriander sounded like it would work, being a bit floral, but the cumin bothered me. However, black pepper was already part of my favorite gingerbread cookie recipe, so why not cumin? I opened it and took a good breath. I knew right away that it would work.
So it was. The scents were bold and fragrant, and never strange or off-putting. In fact, quite the opposite: the cookies were warmer and more complex than ever before. With the addition of this blend, all of the expected flavors and aromas like cinnamon and cloves are still present and land, but the grassy notes of cardamom enhance vegetal flavors like pumpkin or enhance the earthiness of brown sugar and molasses. Cumin complements the warming spices with richness and a hint of citrus. That’s all pumpkin pie spice gives you, plus an extra layer of complexity.
You can use garam masala in a 1:1 ratio with pumpkin pie seasoning, which is usually “taste” anyway; I add garam masala to my pumpkin, apple and sweet potato pies and I’m done, no other spices needed. (I received a very nice compliment on my garam masala flavored sweet potato pie last week. Just saying.) If the recipe doesn’t say “pumpkin pie seasoning” but still uses a bunch of the usual suspects and more cinnamon, I I will add the amount for garam masala, but I will replace a small portion with pure cinnamon. For example, if cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger are up to three teaspoons and cinnamon is one whole teaspoon, then I will make 2-½ teaspoons of garam masala and the last ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. There is no real equation for this, it really depends on your preference.
Garam masala goes great with gingerbread and apple chips, roasted pumpkin, and just about anywhere you use cinnamon. Because there are many different secondary spice formulations in garam masala, take a look at the ingredient list before you buy it to see what you’ll actually be including. (Try to find a mixture without turmeric, if only because it gives such a strong yellow color that it may not work with what you’re baking.) Once you find a suitable mixture, replace it with the spice mixture in the next recipe. dessert with cinnamon. I think you’ll get hooked.