Grinding “The Guyana Masala”……a little tiny kitchen in Brooklyn

In every Indian Guyanese household, you are sure to find cupboards, full of strange looking exotic spices. There are pickled chutneys, bottled pepper sauces, atchar made with mango and lime, curry powders, turmeric powder, custard powder and the one that is quite often used “Garam Masala”. This spice originated from India, and is used in the “Ayurvedic “term as “Kapha” meaning a blend of hot spices, that is used to warm the body. The spices are dry roasted to bring out the flavor of each spice, they are carefully selected and grinded to create a taste like no other bottle on the supermarket shelves. Garam Masala is a blend that is used not only in Guyana, but also in Trinidad, Northern India, and other Caribbean islands with east indian homes. The story of our “Guyanese Masala” is the secret recipe in our family, we have one person that creates the spices  to perfection in a little tiny kitchen, in Brooklyn New York!! her name is “Aunty Savitri”. I can remember my mom saying she is almost out of masala, and she needs to call her aunt in brooklyn, to send her another package. When I  first started cooking Indian dishes, my mom would send me a little jar from her stash, and I would begin the tradition of cooking my own curry and rice. The best part of the spice story, is my aunt loves to make this “Garam Masala”  and call it her own creation. She does not use measurements or any standard recipe, she has mastered the skill of handpicking the spices, dry roasting them and magically blending and grinding until they have a balanced flavor of both sweet and savory. This process cannot be accomplished in just one day, but it is her love of making this mix that makes it really special since all family members call  upon her to have shipments of the masala sent to their homes, even as far away as “Canada”. There are many different blends and spices that can be used  in Guyana, there are households that have created their own twist on making the masala using what they have in their local farmers market.  The people from Trinidad have their own version and the Indians (both Punjabi and Bengali) have their own ways and traditions for the spices. But for my family, our blend is tucked away in a little tiny kitchen in the west Indian neighborhoods of Brooklyn, as my aunt’s phone starts ringing she gets another call that more masala is requested from family & friends! she runs off to the Guyanese market to handpick her ingredients and gets ready to spend the next few days locked away doing what she does best! pouring her love and heart to make sure all of the orders are filled. Some of the spices used are black peppercorns, whole cloves,  cardamom seeds,  cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, cumin and other secret spices that she uses to bring out the flavors. When the bags start to arrive at our  homes, it is time to start cooking, and nothing tastes better than a home cooked meal, I believe that our dishes are fragrant and creates memories….I know in a typical guyanese home, there is plenty of soca music,  bhajans, domino & card games, laughter and commotion coming from the kitchen.  Young girls are sitting around the table enjoying the stories of the older women, as they begin to dice, chop, and grind, throwing the mixture into large guyanese pots,  the smell of the aroma warms the entire home traveling as far away as the next block over! We are finally able to view the perfect dish that is set up on the table, waiting for family members to gather with plates ready to dig in buffet style! The smell alone is sure to bring visitors to your front door. I sometimes walk down the street to figure out exactly what they are cooking since it smells really really good. I can only imagine what others think when they go past a guyanese home and the curries have traveled out the windows and in your backyard. I know my friends enjoy cooking with the masala blend, since I have given out little glass jars of the spice mix, so they can add it to their own homeland cuisine. My friends from France, Peru, America, Haiti, Mexico, Japan, Tunisia and Puerto Rico have all come back with wonderful stories of how the spice added another flavor to the food., or the aromas were so amazing that even the little children and dogs had to stop and take notice. My friend “Roxana” from Peru, always tells me the story of her dog “Haku” he just goes wild when he smells the masala, he wants to jump out of his playhouse and join them for dinner. It makes me laugh to know even the dogs are wondering……… Hey!!What’s cooking in that darn kitchen!…………..XOXO ..Sharon