Meaning “hot spices” – is a mixture of ground spices (recipes vary) (cloves, cardamom, cumin, peppercorns and cinnamon, bay leaves). It is far better to grind your own spices than to buy the mixture ready-ground. The blend of spices in the garam masala varies according to the dish to which it’s added so a spice blend for dish is different to the spice mix for lamb. Depending on the ingredients of your dish, you can enhance the garam masala by adding other spices like ginger and turmeric.