Bring the flavors of India alive in your kitchen. Indian food is a great palette of flavors and seasoning with exotic spices. To maximize the flavors, start with whole spices and toast, then ground.
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
½ teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
¼ teaspoon nigella seeds
Pinch of chili powder
12 jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails left intact
12 bite side wedges fresh or well drained canned pineapple
Salt
Chopped fresh cilantro, to garnish
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Instructions:
Dry roast the first 6 ingredients in a hot skillet over high heat, stirring them around until you smell the aroma of the spices. Immediately turn the spices out of the pan so they do not burn.
Put the spices in a spice grinder or mortar. Add the chili powder and salt to taste and grind to a fine powder. Transfer to a nonmetallic bowl and stir in the lemon juice.
Add the shrimp to the bowl and stir them around so they are well coated. Set aside to marinate for 10 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the broiler to high or prepare a medium hot grill.
Thread 3 shrimp and 3 pineapple wedges alternately onto each skewer. Broil or grill about 2-3 minutes on each side, brushing any leftover marinade, until the shrimp turn pink and are cooked through.
Serve the shrimp and pineapple skewers with cilantro.
Cooking Wiser:
Garam Marsala is a combination of different whole spices. The word Garam means warm in Hindi while Masala means spice mix. Garam masala is therefore a warming spice mix. The word 'warming' refers to the 'heating properties' of the ingredients.
Different regions of India have different versions of garam masala. Some are made without dry roasting the ingredients while others are made after dry roasting then cooling the ingredients and grinding them to a powder. Some contain 'extra' ingredients that others don't.
Once you determine what flavors you prefer, you can make your own garam marsala to suit your own tastes. Make a batch ahead and store for several months in an air-tight container in a cool, dark place.