This is the second spice blend I’ve featured this month, and I think that’s because I buy them for days when I’m short on time, but in reality I prefer to blend my own. There was an added reason to buy this one though – it included anardana powder (ground pomegranate powder), which I had read somewhere worked great in chana masala but I’d never seen anywhere. I’ve seen it since but not bought it, because I’m trying to mend my impulse ingredient buying. Day 16 – more than halfway through. Think I’m running out? No chance.
I used this in a recipe for chana masala from Vegan Indian Cooking. The author offers a recipe to blend your own spices, but today was a late work night so I used this blend in the same quantities. For speed, I also threw in some leftover chard, a bag of spinach and some garam masala tofu which I’d already made. I served in with bought naan bread for one of the speediest meals ever considering how incredibly tasty it was. Sometimes good quality spice blends do have their place.
Do you use bought spice blends?
Cooking the Vegan Books 
pomegranate powder?!! That does sound irresistible! What a fun theme you have going on.
Pomegranate powder does sound irresistible! What a fun theme you have going on. I need to do this soon.
After someone gave me a whole bag of their own version of unground garam masala mix, I think I am never going to buy the prepackaged stuff again. I still do buy spice blends, mostly herbs.
I love the MDH brand spice blends no added MSG or colourings like a lot of the Asian branded spice blends (even the tandoori one!) and they taste really delicious, fresh and homemade. They sell some of their more ‘mainstream’ spice blends in larger Tesco stores but the more unusual ones, everything from Chana masala to tea masala they sell in Asian shops. All vegan as far as I know. Their ‘kitchen king’ blend is fab it’s meant to be a vegetable curry masala but I find it makes an interesting and more subtle alternative to garam masala in any dish.