Topic: Bassar / Basaar mix powder replacement

[StoneCut]

Being located in Germany I have a bit of a problem getting some of the needed ingredients.

Mostly I'm having issues getting these:

• Bassar / Basaar Curry Masala mix powder
• Rajah Mild Madras (I can get tons of other Mild Madras blends, though)
• All Spice (what is this ?!?!)
• Chaat Masala
• Mango Powder (Amchoor)
• Panch Phoran (might be able to get this if I drive far enough)
• Rajah All-Purpose Seasoning (huh ?)

All those ingredient apart from the Mango Powder and Bassar/Basaar are not used very often, but I'm having a real issue getting this Bassar stuff. I can't even find an online store which ships to Germany that stocks it.

While reading around this forum I noticed that Bassar is also referred to as Kashmiri Curry Masala. Now, I do have a glass of Patak's Kashmiri Masala - is this an exact replacement or am I mixing things up ?

Also, can anyone explain what "All Spice" and "Rajah All-Purpose Seasoning" are and how I might substitute them ? Rajah brand is not popular over here. One asian store owner told me that Rajah was a "cheap" brand, he only buys TRS ... I don't believe any of it but that's what he said :/

Lastly - what is "Chaat Masala" and how would I be able to substitute it ?

[PaulP]

Hi Stonecut,

I just checked and www.spicesofindia.co.uk will deliver to Germany for

[StoneCut]

Wow, excellent info Paul. Cheers for that. Spending (another) 35 pounds on spices would cause my wife to kill me after all, however ... I will keep it in mind, though. I'll also need to find out about the black (but actually pink) salt, hehe.

Do you think that the Patak's Kashmiri Masala paste would be a good substitute ?

[PaulP]

Well you can spend less than

[StoneCut]

Yeah, I know I can do a lot without them. However, just last night I made some Seekh Kebabs and whichever recipe I looked at I seemed to always miss at least one of the listed ingredients. It was very frustrating so I decided to compile a list of common ingredients in order to figure out what I still need.

The stuff above is just what I cannot get whatsoever. I'm also missing some more common ingredients such as Coriander powder - i spent an hour last night to crush enough seeds with a mortar just to get 2 tbs worth ... But that's a different story

[fried]

Get yourself an electric spice/ coffee grinder, you won't regret it.