I love Northern Indian cuisine, but am allergic to cumin. Can anyone suggest a substitute for cumin to use in making garam masala from Northern India?
Northern Indian Cuisine – Garam Masala Without Cumin
indian-cuisinesubstitutions
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Best Answer
There seem to be more than a few well known curries that use neither garam masala nor cumin - for example, Camellia Panjabi's "50 great curries of india" (an older vintage but good cookbook IMHO) lists a Rogan Josh and a Safed Murgh Korma meeting this constraint.
Also, "Nadan" style south indian beef curries seem to be commonly cumin-less, and they could fit well together with north indian dishes even while not north indian.
Also, while it is a different flavor, Ajowan (or even Thyme) can go great lengths at creating a "balanced" indian flavor profile where nothing seems missing (it is commonly used as one of defining spices in samosas).