East Indian Bottle Masala – This is a flavourful blend of spice mix that forms the heart of East Indian Cuisine. It gives me immense pleasure to reveal my family’s secret Bottle Masala Recipes through a YouTube video and on this blog.
These recipes are my Mum’s, passed down to her by her family and we have been using these recipes to make our own Bottle Masala, every alternate year.
What is East Indian Bottle Masala?
Bottle Masala is an aromatic and versatile blend of spices used in East Indian Cuisine. This blend of aromatic spices is used by East Indian families for their regular cooking of meat, fish, and even vegetables.
The East Indians make this masala during the hottest months of the year ie. May & October. Every family has its own unique recipe for the Bottle Masala that is reluctantly shared.
“The East Indian Bottle Masala is the essence of East Indian cuisine. A table laid without the flavours of the Bottle Masala is incomplete”
To know more about the East Indian Community click here https://www.east-indians.com/historygeography.htm
Table of Contents
- What is East Indian Bottle Masala?
- About East Indian Bottle Masala
- East Indian Bottle Masala Ingredients
About East Indian Bottle Masala
Every household has a different recipe for the Bottle Masala though the ingredients are mostly the same. There is always a slight variation in the spice mix and the number of spices.
In this post, I am documenting two different Bottle Masala Recipes. The 1st Recipe is listed below and the 2nd Recipe is in the Printable Card. These are my Mum’s recipes and both the recipes are equally flavourful and aromatic with a rich red colour. You can use any one of these recipes to make your own East Indian Bottle Masala.
The East Indian Bottle Masala Ingredients listed in both the recipes will yield approx 5 Kgs of Bottle Masala. Feel free to alter the quantity of spices to make a smaller batch of masala.
East Indian Bottle Masala Ingredients
Watch the Video here –
Recipe-I (My Mum’s Recipe)
- 1500 grams Kashmiri chillies
- 1000 grams Reshampati chillies
- 500 grams Madras chillies
- 500 grams Bedki chillies
- 250 grams Turmeric (Haldi) Whole
- 250 grams Sesame seeds (white til)
- 125 grams Poppy seeds (Khus khus)
- 125 grams Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- 250 grams Coriander seeds (Dhania)
- 125 grams Black pepper (Kalimiri)
- 125 grams Mustard seeds (Rai)
- 125 grams Cinnamon Sticks
- 30 grams Bay Leaves (Tej Patta)
- 25 grams each of –
- Cardamom (Big)
- Cardamom (Small)
- Cloves (Lavung)
- Saffroncobra (Naikaisar)
- Star Anise (Badian)
- Allspice (Kababchini)
- Stone flower (Dagadphool)
- Mace (Javitri)
- Mugwort (Maipatri)
- Caraway seeds (Shahijeera)
- Triphala
- Asafoetida (Hing)/whole
- Fenugreek seeds (Methi)
- Fennel seeds
- 2 whole Nutmeg (Jaiphal)
- 100 grams Bengal gram (Chana)
- 100 grams Wheat (Gehu)
Recipe II(video recipe) which is also listed in the Printable Card
You could also make a small batch of the Bottle Masala in your Mixer/grinder or processor at home. But don’t forget to sieve the masala a couple of times to get a smooth fine powder.
Finally, let not the long list of ingredients of the East Indian Bottle Masala intimidate you. You could just go to any spice dealer in and around Mumbai and then present the list to him. The shopkeeper will then meticulously measure and pack every spice for you.
East Indian Bottle Masala Recipe
STEP I. First sun-dry the chillies for at least 2 days and then roast them separately. De-stem the chillies before roasting.
STEP II. Roast all the other spices for a minute or two. There is no need to sun-dry the spices.
STEP III. After all the ingredients are roasted, put them into containers and send them to the mill for pounding. At the mill, the masala ingredients will be ground to a fine powder. It will be sieved a couple of times until you get a smoother and silkier texture.
STEP IV. Let the masala powder cool completely. Later, fill this into tall dark glass bottles and seal well. Generally, dark beer bottles are used to store this masala to preserve the colour.
This East Indian Bottle Masala has a shelf life of more than a year if stored well. Store the bottle masala in a preferably dry and dark place to preserve its vibrant color and aroma.
Recipes using East Indian Bottle Masala
This blend of spices imparts a subtle and also renders a unique flavour to every dish being cooked. You can use it for vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian recipes.
Also, use the East Indian Bottle Masala to make delicious CHICKEN MOIL, CHICKEN KHUDI, MUTTON LONVAS, PORK SORPOTEL, and SHARK CURRY. I have many more East Indian Recipes in this blog
Making the Bottle Masala is also a tedious and fairly time-consuming process and needs patience. Also one needs to be passionate about this Ancestral Culinary Art of making Bottle Masala at home.
Do give at least one of these recipes a try and let me know how it turned out.
If you like my recipe please share it on Facebook, Pinterest & Instagram @flavoursofmykitchen #flavoursofmykitchen2019.
Please let me have your comments and feedback. Your comments are valuable and highly appreciated. You can also get in touch with me at flavoursofmykitchen2019@gmail.com.
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Printable Recipe Card
East Indian Bottle Masala
Ingredients
East Indian Bottle Masala Ingredients
- 1.5 Kgs Kashmiri chillies
- 1 Kg Bedki chillies
- 250 grams Reshampati chillies
- 250 grams Madras chillies
- 200 grams Turmeric (Haldi) Whole
- 300 grams Sesame seeds (white til)
- 300 grams Poppy seeds (Khus khus)
- 150 grams Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- 500 grams Coriander seeds (Dhania)
- 150 grams Black pepper (Kalimiri)
- 150 grams Mustard seeds (Rai)
- 25 grams Cardamom (Big)
- 60 grams Cardamom (Small)
- 250 grams Cinnamon sticks (Dalchini)
- 35 grams Cloves (Lavung)
- 50 grams Bay Leaf (Tej Patta)
- 35 grams Saffroncobra (Naikaisar)
- 50 grams Star Anise (Badian)
- 35 grams Allspice (Kababchini)
- 35 grams Stone flower (Dagadphool)
- 35 grams Mace (Javitri)
- 35 grams Mugwort (Maipatri)
- 35 grams Caraway seeds (Shahijeera)
- 40 grams Triphala
- 25 grams Asafoetida (Hing)(Whole)
- 25 grams Fenugreek seeds (Methi)
- 2 whole Nutmeg (Jaiphal)
- 40 grams Fennel seeds (Badishep)
- 100 grams Bengal gram (Chana)
- 100 grams Wheat (Gehu)
Instructions
How to Make East Indian Bottle Masala
- Dry all the ingredients in hot sun for 2 – 3 days or until the chillies are crisp.
- Roast every ingredient separately, taking care not to burn the spices.
- De- stem the red chillies before drying them.
- Pound the roasted masala in pounding mill and store in dark glass bottles when cool.
Notes
- The quantity indicated will yield approx. 5 Kgs powdered bottle masala.
- Store in air-tight containers or dark bottle to preserve the aroma and colour.
Thank you for stopping by,
Love Anita
Pls give for small qty…say total 250 gms. The qty you have mentioned is for a large qty.
I know you can do for a smaller qty to but am not too good in it! Thank you
Sure… I will
I have added the recipe for smaller quantity of masala. Do try and let me have your comments.
Saffroncobra (naikaisar) is actually nagkeshar, where nag means cobra n keshar is saffron
Absolutely Jyoti. Thanks
I too am looking for the recipe for smaller quantity, request you to please provide
Hi Sapna
If you want to make lesser quantity then divide the ingredients accordingly.
I like your receipes. Thanks. Looking forward to seeing your posts.
Thank you so much. Will continue to post recipes. God bless
Amazing, we used to make home, my mom and our old village people from mumbai, wadala, kurla, soon, thane, worli all over bandra mahim, east spices rock, east Indian tadka☺
Thank you so much
I wish you would make n courier
Maybe someday. Thanks, Barbara
You are branding bottle masala. which is a first in writing out the ingredients, but i beg to differ those are not all the ingredients listed.
It’s difficult for every ingredient to be notified and procured but you have done fairly well in giving us East Indians a value to the rich culinary culture and heritage, that we have brought forward to this day Best of luck .
Hi Clarion, I totally agree with you that these are not all the ingredients that go into the Bottle Masala. EI bottle masala has 33 to 36 ingredients as you know, some of which are difficult to procure and hence omitted. My mum’s side of the family uses this recipe and it works fine for us.
The masala too turns out to be aromatic and tasty.
I am trying my best to preserve our ancestral culinary culture for our future generation, hope I succeed in doing so.
Thanks for stopping by, and please do let me have your comments on the recipes. Your feedback is highly appreciated. God bless
Do you know what “Shanbarpan” is?
No dear. I don’t know what ‘Shanbarpan’ is. Most of the spices that were earlier used in the EI Bottle Masala seem to have been lost.
i cannot see where it is added for small quantity
Awesome
Thank you