How To Make Garam Masala and Brussel Sprouts, Indian Style

This week an appealing recipe link showed up on my Twitter stream: Brussel Sprouts with Cumin. We had this dish with dinner tonight, and it was delicious and low-calorie. So flavorful, with a rich blend of spices, including a light sprinkling at the end with a staple of Indian cooking, garam masala. Not having garam masala in the pantry, I had to locate a recipe to make my own. Searching for one led to my first visit the Videojug website, where they post many cooking videos--a great discovery.

Even with bottled ground cardamom and nutmeg, this pungent spice mix filled the kitchen with a tantalizing aroma. I also used cinnamon sticks instead of acacia. Now that a small jar of garam masala sits on the shelf, some other Indian dishes are in order in the near future.

Garam Masala Ingredients

Once again, when it came time to prepare the sprouts, I had no cumin seeds in the house and substituted ground cumin for the first step. It would have been better with seeds, probably, but the ground cumin worked ok. This simple brussel sprouts dish packs a lot of flavor. Steam the brussel sprouts, trim away the cores, halve the larger ones, and you're ready to go, or as stated in the video, just use leftover sprouts. The chef here is Nisha Katona. She posts other cooking videos on her website. The one on currying vegetables also includes some tips about getting creative with chicken curries. These dishes look so fast and simple and good.

 

On another topic, here is my cooking question of the day. After using 2 T. of Chinese black bean sauce in a marinade, what to do with the rest of the 16-ounce can? Suggestions welcome.

Weekend Cooking is a feature of the Beth Fish Reads blog. Click for links to food posts by other bloggers. Usually you will find some great recipes, photography, cookbook reviews and other food-related posts.

Comments

[Beth F]

Hummm I don't have any black bean sauce tips but I'm so happy to run across this post. I'm making brussels sprouts tonight to go with spice-rubbed grilled salmon. I bet these sprouts would go great.

[Cecelia]

I love finding new ways to use brussels sprouts in recipes, and this spicy dish sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing about garam masala - I wouldn't have known that you could make it yourself.

[Heather]

interesting videos. I'll stick with buying garam masala as I don't have a spice grinder, but I do understand why it would be best to be making it fresh.

[Fay]

C, these sprouts should go well with fish. My cookbooks have other recipes that use a T. here and there of black bean sauce, but the best solution will be in future to make my own sauce from dried, fermented beans, a little at a time, instead of using canned. Those dried beans last forever, and the sauce is easy to make.

Cecelia and Heather, next time I want to grind my own nutmeg and use cardamom seeds straight from the pod, but this first attempt turned out well.

[Tina]

Too bad my husband doesn't like those sprouts :-( Great post and I like the video.

[Rikki]

I will definitely check out those videos. We love Indian food.

[Esme]

I like garam masala but brussel sprouts is one vegetable I cannot stand, I have tried it so many ways and it is still b.s. to me.-I think the taste of them is just too strong.

[Fay]

Tina and Esme, so many people say the same. They like what they like. Sprouts can taste bitter. I noticed that this cook added a bit of sugar at the end, possibly to counteract that.

[Fay]

Rikki, I do not own a good Indian cookbook and have been looking online. The Prashad Cookbook by Kaushy Patel received a positive mention in one of the UK papers this weekend.

[Kerry Ann @Vinobaby's Voice]

I love garam masala. Never thought to try on brussel sprouts--thanks for the idea!

[JoAnn]

I recently purchased garam masala for a new recipe (didn't realize at the time that I could make my own), so have been looking for more ways to use it. Will give this a try!

[Michelle]

I have a jar of garam marsala but will try making it next time. We love brussel sprouts here. Thanks for passing on the videos. Cheers.

[Carole]

I will try this - always struggling to find ways to do sprouts that work.

[Joy Weese Moll]

That sounds like a wonderful way to cook brussel sprouts.

[Fay]

Thanks, all, for stopping by. Aside from the interesting flavor, my favorite part of this recipe is the low-fat, low-cal part. Just a tiny bit of cooking oil needed.

[Heather]

Congratulations, you are a winner from my recent 1000th blog post celebration.

You have won a copy of 150 best grilled cheese recipes by Alison Lewis

Please send me your mailing address, and I will forward it to the publisher and they will send you the book directly.

Thanks once again for visiting Books and Quilts and entering this contest.

[Fay]

Thanks, Heather. I sent you an email. Sounds like an interesting book.