Making the Masala

As you peruse your cookbooks - and particularly the Prashad one, you will see that a great deal of dishes incorpoate a masala.
A masala generally consists of mixes of the following: Green chillies (seeds and membranes left in), Garlic, Ginger, Salt. They can also include other ingredients such as fresh coriander.

They are always ground up into a smooth pulp ready to incorporate in your dishes. Please note, for those that aren't great lovers of big heat, my wife has yet to complain about the fresh masalas - it appears her problems lies with dried chilli powders instead.

Given that so many dishes contain this masala, I tend to look at all the recipes I am going to make, then double/ treble etc the amount I am going to need to cover all the dishes.

But today, in prep for tomorrow, I'm just making a good amount in case I need it.....which inevitably I will.

So, onto my ingredients:

For each dish, I'm currently using 3-4 medium green chillies and 1-2 hot green chillies. If cooking for the family, I am currently removing the seeds but really they should be left in.
Chop finely - looking for approx 2mmx2mm cubes here
Garlic - I'm addicted to this stuff so I tend to have about 3-4 large cloves or 5-8 smaller ones. - chop roughly
If ginger is called for - about a 3cm piece - chopped as per chilli
You will also need a good ol "pinch" of coarse salt. - if you have ever watched a cooking programme, you will undoubtedly have been amused about what chefs call a "pinch" of salt. In this case, its effectively a desert spoon.

Place your chopped ingredients in the mortar - small amounts at a time if necessary, dependent on the size of your...umm....equipment.

Pulp the lot down to a smooth paste and set aside.- (chill in fridge if like me you will be using tomorrow morning). It does freeze, but better not with the Garlic - add that fresh later.

(You can, of course, always use a food processor for the above - those attachments for the stick blenders work well too)