Homemade Pilau Masala
Kenya
Rédacteur en chef
Abuja, Nigeria ·
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Abuja, Nigeria ·
Pilau masala is the spice blend behind pilau, the spiced rice of the East African coast, and it is a short list of whole spices rather than a long one. Cumin, black peppercorns, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon are roasted briefly and ground, and that is the whole thing. The blend belongs to the Swahili coast, where centuries of Indian Ocean trade brought spices from South and Southeast Asia into the cooking of Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar. Pilau itself is a relative of the pilaf and pulao found from Persia to India, adapted along the coast into something distinctly East African, and the masala is the point at which that trade history is most visible. Whether to buy it or make it is the practical question. Pre-ground blends are widely sold and perfectly usable, but ground spices lose their volatile oils quickly, and the difference between a jar that has sat on a shelf for a year and spices roasted and ground the same day is not subtle. It requires no grinder: a mortar and pestle does the job, and the roasting step is what makes it worth doing at all, since brief heat opens up the aromatics before they are broken down.
Pilau masala is the spice blend used in the pilau of the East African Swahili coast, reflecting centuries of Indian Ocean trade that carried cardamom, cloves, cumin and cinnamon into the cooking of Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar.
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Gather all the spices. If using whole spices, shell the cardamom pods and break up the cinnamon stick.
Lightly roast the spices in a heavy pan over medium heat, stirring continuously for about a minute until they become fragrant.
Transfer the roasted spices to a mortar and pestle and crush until you have a fine powder. A spice grinder or coffee grinder will do the same job faster.
Store in an airtight container.
Notes personnelles de Deborah Olayiwola4 avis
Herh, roasting the whole black peppercorns and cumin before grinding makes a huge difference paa! I was worried the 1 tsp ground cloves would overpower the mix, but it balanced out nicely. My friend's mother from Mombasa puts a bit more cardamom oo, but this ratio is very solid chale.
my hand was dead after trying to crush that 5 inch cinnamon stick with the mortar and pestle! gave up and used the nutribullet instead. the fragrance from dry roasting the spices for just a minute on the hob was unreal though, so much better than buying ready-ground jars from Tesco.
Made this yesterday using Robertsons whole cumin seeds and peppercorns. Dry roasting for 1 minute worked well, but shelling 1 1/2 tablespoons of cardamom pods took way longer than the 25 min prep time listed here. Very lekker spice blend for the rice overall.
The smell when you toast the cumin seeds and cinnamon stick in the heavy pan... mon dieu, my whole apartment smelled incredible. I could not find whole cardamom pods at the usual store here in Silver Spring so I had to visit the Asian market near Wheaton. Grinding everything into fine powder in my little coffee grinder works so much better than buying the old premade jars.