Garam Masala. What is in the Garam Masala I bought recently that makes it slightly perfumed?

Question

The ingredients listed are -
coriander, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, bay leaves and ginger. I am familiar with most of them, so could it be the cumin or coriander?.

Thank you all for the suggestions so far. It's very difficult to describe a perfume (or aroma!). I DO like this particular garam masala, I was just curious because it has such a distinctive aroma, with one unfamiliar one that seems to dominate that I cannot recocgnise. I use a lot of black pepper, ginger, cinnamon and bay. and although I use cloves mostly in pomanders or pot pourri, I do use them sometimes in cooking. I also realise that it may be a combination of spices as in aromatherapy or perfume - which is probably why I referred to perfume rather than smell.

Answer 1

Its the Cumin, the only reason i know this is because my family often eat Indian and we love the aroma. And recently we had to by cumin for a recipe and when we opened it all we could smell was the Indian restaurant!!! Its not coriander i don't think I'm not a big fan of its flavour or smell - its largely used in Thai dishes and cinnamon is sweet as you would know.

Answer 2

That should be Cinnamon, it has a sweet flavoured smell. Cumin and corriander are also possible in normal cases but garam masalas have higher contents of flavouring spices like cinnamon and cloves. And cinnamon has a stronger scent. So once again, the smell definitely is that of cinnamon.

Answer 3

Could also be Star Anais which may not be listed.This has a slightly aniseed,liquorice smell but i bet it is the cloves which are quite pungent.All the ingredients combined make garam masala very aromatic and i know what you mean when you know there is a dominant fragrance that you can't quite put your finger on.It is the same with Chineses Five Spice.

Answer 4

Garam Masala is an Indian food product. The perfume unique due to the mix of all the said ingredients. Bay leaves plays the main role in the odour.

Answer 5

Answer: For 1 kg Garam Masala : 200 gm Coriander seeds, cummin seeds 100gm, Black cummin seeds 50 gm,Bay leaves 50 gm, Cordimom Black 50 gm, Cordimom green 50 gm, Nut meg 50 gm, Mace 50gm, Cloves 50 gm,Star anees 50 gm, Cineman 100 gm, Coriander seed 200 gm put in a blender and make powder

Answer 6

every ingredient in garam masala has it's own type of fragrance,i would however not refer to it as perfume,dominant among these would be cinnamon,cloves and ,bay leaves.i take it this aroma does not appeal to you but if you are hoping to eliminate these in your next packet ,i doubt if you will succeed as these are integral spiced for indian cooking .

Answer 7

All of those ingredients have distinct fragrances. I suppose that it could be the cumin or coriander IF you're not already familiar with those spices.

Answer 8

Cinnamon, Cloves and Ginger all have a nice fragrance...more or less :-p

Answer 9

It contains so many spices. Almost all contribute to the smell.
By the way depending upon the preparation, the constituents vary. So a definite answer can not be given.

Answer 10

I'd guess that it's be the cloves, as they have a very strong sweet smell, which I tihnk would overpower the others.