Chana masala

Essentials:

¼ cup cumin seeds, roasted (toasted) on a skillet until smoking and deep brown in color.
2 tbsp black peppercorns
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1-2 dried red chillies (you can always add additional chilly powder to the dish)

Optional (in alphabetical order)- Try to include at least two or three of these spices but don’t stress too much if something is unavailable:

2-3 bay leaves
1 -2 pods of the large black variety of cardamom or 1- 1½ tsp of the smaller green variety
1 -2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp cloves
½ – 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
Small quantity nutmeg

Roast all the spices briefly in a pan (roast the red chillies last) and then grind them into a powder in a coffee grinder. Stir in 1-2 tsp of amchur (dried mango powder) or powdered anardana (pomegranate seed) if available. Recently in Egypt, the spice sumac stood in admirably as well.

Tip: Fresh roasted spices really make the dish taste good, but if you’re making the mix to last don’t roast them. It will lose its flavor earlier.

Paanch phoron (Bengali five-spice mix)

Mix together whole seeds of mustard, cumin, fennel and kalonji (nigella or black onion seeds) in roughly equal proportions with a somewhat lesser quantity of fenugreek seeds. I add one tblsp of all other spices and only 1 tsp of fenugreek.