One tough thing about cooking Indian food is that the secret is always in the spices. So seeing how a masala is made from scratch is really demystifying. The great thing is that if you make a batch of a masala like this, you can just keep it on hand and make incredibly tasty dishes quite easily.
This video is a follow up to Asha Janardhan’s Bise Bele Bath recipe – Asha shows how to make the masala powder that gives the bise bele bath it’s rich flavors. Of course, you can buy pre-made powder at an Indian market (and that tastes good too!), but if you’re feeling adventurous, you can make it from scratch:
Thank you Sintalentos for the music recs: Patrick Lee: Bad Panda #42; “Caddo Lake” by Michael Chapman
Also, thank you Joram for lending us your audio equip!
my favorite non-masala-related moment: when asha talks about how to say “rent.” reminds me of an early childhood lesson differentiating between “bento” and “benjo” in japanese: one means lunch box, the other means toilet.
my favorite masala-related moment: the observation that the spices cooking will make the dog bark!
really enjoying this series…
i appreciate your comments, dan! i see a little more conflict with the bento/benjo confusion though! i think both of these moments you mention are special because they are small windows into Asha and Kavitha and their relationship. And anyone who knows them, knows the Janardhans love their hounds!