Spicy
As part of an ongoing (and hopefully accelerating this year) trend away from mainstream consumer culture we tried to make the majority of our Christmas gifts this year. One of the very successful and fun items that I made were “spice blends” of garam masala, curry powder, and chili powder. The back story behind the development of these blends lies in Thomas’ food allergies. When we found out last February that Thomas was allergic to garlic as well and black pepper it took a dizzying array of foods off the table for us, literally. I was devastated when I found out that I couldn’t even use spices that I thought were safe such as chili powder. It turns out that these spices are all actually blends of multiple spices including, garlic and pepper. A world without curry is not a world I want to live in so I set out to make my own blends. Even if Thomas grows out of his allergies I will definitely keep making our own spice blends. The flavors are so much more intense and fresh, the product is vastly more inexpensive, and it fills the house with wonderful smells while the spices are toasting and blending. Here are the recipes for my current three favorites:
For ingredients I recommend growing your own or going online to buy in bulk from Mountain Rose Herbs or Penzeys. I also recommend buying whole spices (rather than ground) whenever possible as they will taste much fresher and keep much longer.