Where history, wanderlust, and your spice drawer meet

Certain spice blends feel less like recipes and more like stories. They are collections of chapters gathered over centuries. These blends are traded across oceans and whispered from grandmother to grandchild. Garam masala is one of those. Every family has its own version. Every kitchen has its own ratio. Every cook recalls the first time its aroma hit the right note.

A Little History: Born on the Spice Routes

The origins of garam masala trace back to the kitchens of ancient Northern India. This was long before cardamom pods sat neatly in glass jars.

“Garam” doesn’t mean “spicy” in the way chili is spicy. It means warming. It is a blend designed according to Ayurvedic principles to ignite the digestive fire. Cumin to steady, black pepper to awaken, cinnamon to comfort, cloves to stir the soul.

Empires rose and fell. The Mughals loved aromatic excess. Regional cooks turned scarcity into invention. Through these changes, garam masala kept evolving. Some add mace, some add bay leaf, some smuggle in a pinch of nutmeg only when no one’s looking.

And then there is the romantic version—cooks who scatter in edible rose petals, letting perfume seep quietly into the blend like a love letter folded among spices.

A Spice Route Cousin: Ras el Hanout

My trips to Morocco discovered this amazing spice mix that had a dizzying aroma. If garam masala had a faraway sibling separated at birth, it would be Moroccan ras el hanout.

Both blends are:

• Warm, aromatic, layered
• Built from a medley of sweet, peppery, floral, and earthy spices
• Less of a formula and more of an identity: “the best the shopkeeper has to offer”

Both blends carry the fingerprints of the spice routes that connected South Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. This is proof that cooks have always borrowed generously and joyfully from each other.

This version is delicate, complex, and just a little floral—but not perfumey. The rose doesn’t try to be the star; it simply lifts everything else up.

Ingredients (makes a small jar)

• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 2 anise seed pods
• 4–5 green cardamom pods
• 1 black cardamom pod
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp dried edible rose petals

Instructions

1. Heat a dry skillet over low heat.
   Add all spices except the rose petals, ginger and nutmeg. Toast gently until fragrant—about 2 minutes.
2. Remove from heat. Let cool completely.
3. Add  the rose petals, then grind everything to a fine powder. Add the ginger and nutmeg powder.
4. Store in an airtight jar.
   Use within a month for maximum magic.

How to Use It

• Stir into creamy lentils at the end of cooking.
• Sprinkle a pinch on roasted vegetables.
• Add to biryanis, pilafs, or even roasted nuts.
• Add fresh ground garlic, ginger, turmeric and olive oil to make a marinade

When the jar is done, you’ll remake it slightly differently—because that’s the beauty of garam masala. It’s a recipe with no fixed edges, always shaped by your hands, your memories, your kitchen.

Recipe Card: Garam Masala with Rose Petals