Chettinad Spice Mix

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Chettinadu is the land of  the Chettiars who are the mercantile, weaving & agricultural people to the south of India mainly in the states of Tamil Nadu & Kerala.
Chettinad cuisine is the cuisine of the Nattukotai Chettiars or Nagarathars. In addition to the traditional Southern Indian Staples like Coconut, Legumes & Pulses, during their centuries of participation in the spice trade, the people of Chetiinad added many spices to their cuisine like Indonesian Nutmeg, Ceylon Cinnamon, Madagascar Cloves, Tellicherry Pepper and sometime even blue Ginger from Vietnam & Laos.
Chettiars were traditionally vegetarian, and to this day, their traditional & festive feast remain vegetarian. Centuries over centuries of delicately mixing & layering spices, we got the our beloved Chettinad Spices Mix which can be used in a variety of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.   

I always recommend getting the choicest whole spices from your trusted market and making all kinds of ground spices at home to ensure purity and desired taste.
So lets learn how to make the Chettinad Spice mix in under 15 minutes and you can store in a refrigerator for at least a month.

Ingredients and Proportions:
I wish to share my recipe with you today hoping the taste will make you go wow. 
As I have mentioned in my other Masala series blogs, each Masala/Spice Mix Powder has basically three types of ingredients:
  1. Base
  2. Aromatic Spices
  3. Earthy Spices
In this recipe, we are going to use Red Chilies, Coriander Seeds & Cumin Seeds & Dry Desiccated Coconut as a base, fennel as an earthy ingredient and cardamom, black pepper, cloves, bay leaves cinnamon as aromatic ingredients and last we shall use turmeric powder & dried mango powder as flavor enhancers.
The composition is as follows:
 

Base

Quantity

Aromatic Spices

Quantity

Coriander Seeds

4Tbsp

Nutmeg

1 Piece

Cumin Seeds

2Tbsp

Cloves

1 Tsp

Red Chilies

5-10 Pieces

Cardamom

4 Pieces

Grated dry Coconut

2Tbsp

Cinnamon

2 Inch Stick

 

 

Black Pepper

2Tbsp

For Earthyness

Quantity

Curry leaves

15-20

Fennel Seeds

2 Tbsp

Star Anise

4 Pieces

 

 

Mace

2 Pieces

Procedure:

The procedure after calculating & collecting all of the above ingredients in required mentioned proportions is quite simple. We have to dry roast the ingredients in a pan just enough to relieve them of their moisture. Dry roasting also helps in releasing the flavorful essential oils in the spices and makes them easy to grind. Try not to over roast the ingredients as this depletes the essential oils in them and you will be left with a bowl dust instead of an aromatic masala.

When you are making a large quantity of the masala, be sure to roast each of the ingredients separately.
The dry roasting can also be done in a microwave at 900Watts for 120secs. But remember to stop the microwave every 30sec and stir the ingredients.

Now we have to wait till the whole spices are completely cooled naturally. When they are completely cooled, grind the ingredients to a fine powder in a grinder with at least a 600W motor for proper grinding. And thus your awesome Masala is ready.

Pro Tips:
  • Add a little salt to the whole spices before grinding (this will help with heat generated during grinding and avoid overheating which can lead to loss of essential oils).
  • Do not forget to put the ground powder in an airtight jar.



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