Ingredients
10-12 dried red chilies. Cayenne chilies are perfect.
5 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped.
1 tablespoon fresh lemongrass, very thinly sliced.
3 tablespoons grated ginger.
Zest of 1 kaffir lime.
6-8 coriander roots, washed well and coarsely chopped.
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper.
1 teaspoon fish sauce.
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin.
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander.
2 tablespoons bright red paprika.

Method
Break up the chilies with your hands.
Soak the chilies in 5 tablespoons hot water for 1-2 hours.
WASH HANDS IMMEDIATELY.
Put the chilies together with their soaking liquid, into a blender, along with all the remaining ingredients in the order listed.
Blend, pushing down with a rubber spatula as many times as necessary, until you have a smooth paste.
What you do not use immediately should be refrigerated or frozen.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups water.
425g can diced tomatoes.
2 teaspoon fresh ground ginger.
2 cloves garlic, crushed.
1 cinnamon stick.
5 cardamom pods, bruised.
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh coriander.

Method
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, until thick and fragrant.
Remove cinnamon and cardamom pods and use remaining paste to cook your choice of meats.

Garam Masala is an Indian and Pakistani spice mix. There is no “recipe” as such, you could speak to 10 neighbours in a city in India, and all 10 will have their own special blend that is a secret of their own family.

We like this blend below. It really should be used the day you grind it for maximum flavour, but there is no harm in storing it in a well sealed jar away from sunlight.

Makes 1/4 cup
Prep time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 5 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
2 tablespoon fennel seeds
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon ground clove
2 bay leaf

Method
Dry-fry ingredients in small frying pan, stirring until fragrant.
Blend or process mixture, or crush using mortar and pestle, until mixture is ground coarsely.

Ingredients
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
10 long green chillies, chopped coarsely
10 small green chillies, chopped coarsely
1 teaspoon shrimp paste
1 clove garlic, quartered
4 green onions, chopped coarsely
10cm stick (20g) fresh lemon grass, finely chopped
1cm piece fresh galangal (5g), chopped finely
¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh coriander root and stem mixture
1 tablespoon peanut oil

Method
Dry-fry ground coriander and cumin in small frying pan over medium heat, stirring until fragrant.
Blend or process spices with chillies, paste, garlic, onion, lemon grass, galangal and coriander mixture until mixture forms a paste.
Add oil to paste; continue to blend until smooth.

We have left out saffron, due to its expense, however if you want the brilliant orange colour normally associated with tandoori pastes, add a pinch of saffron threads, or use orange food colouring (often called saffron colouring).

Make the paste, and store it in an air tight container in the fridge, covered by a thin film of peanut oil for up to 2 weeks.

Prep time : 5 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
1 medium brown onion, chopped.
5 garlic cloves, peeled and trimmed.
3 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice.
2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger.
1 tablespoon peanut oil.
2 teaspoon ground coriander.
1 teaspoon ground cumin.
1 teaspoon turmeric.
1/2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper.
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional).
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom.
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg.
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper.

Method
Add all ingredients to a blender, blend until paste is smooth and consistent.

Ingredients
750 grams rock salt.
5 tablespoons of cayenne pepper.
3 tablespoons of chili powder.
3 tablespoons of black pepper corns.
3 tablespoons of onion powder.
3 tablespoons of garlic powder.
1 tablespoon of dried thyme.
1 tablespoon of dried basil.
5 bay leaves, stem cut from leaves.

Method
Mix 1 tablespoon of the rock salt with the pepper corns, thyme, basil and bay leaves.
Process in a spice grinder until the ingrdients are finely ground.
Process the remaining rock salt until it is finely ground.
In a large bowl, carefully mix the processed ingredients with the cayenne, chili, onion and garlic powders.
Mix until the colour is uniform.
Store in an airtight container, use a pepper shaker to dispense when needed.

Serving
This is basically spiced salt, so use sparingly.
If you desire more or less heat – add more cayenne pepper for more heat, add more ground salt for less heat.