masala

noun

ma·​sa·​la mä-ˈsä-lä How to pronounce masala (audio)
-lə,
mə-
: a varying blend of spices used in Indian cooking

Examples of masala in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Menu options include paneer dishes, curries, biryani, kebabs and chicken tikka masala. The Arizona Republic, 4 Mar. 2024 And then there's butter chicken's near mirror-image resemblance to one of Britain's national dishes: Chicken tikka masala, basically a hot-roasted bird in a tomato-butter sauce. Omkar Khandekar, NPR, 1 Mar. 2024 Choose between dishes like vegetable biryani, paneer butter masala, and methi matar malai, a creamy curry flavored with sweet green peas and earthy fenugreek leaves. Tiffany Hopkins, Bon Appétit, 30 Oct. 2023 The kitchen explores India’s vast landscape in one ambitious menu, featuring dishes like fig and green banana kebabs with chili achar and Kerala Dungeness crab masala. John Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 15 Jan. 2024 Think decadent stews like chicken tikka masala and chana masala along with naan. Leena Trivedi-Grenier, Washington Post, 22 Dec. 2023 Her mother, a homemaker who spoke no English, mailed her three-line recipes in Hindi with sparse instructions: A little of this masala. Mayukh Sen, Washington Post, 27 Nov. 2023 Haji Mohd Hussain had a streetside kitchen consisting of a vat of boiling oil and a menu of just two items: chicken fry (whole or various pieces) and fish fry, each tossed in a masala coating and served with chutney, red onion, and rumali roti. Alex Bhattacharji, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Dec. 2023 In his Bombay masala cassava, his baked eggs with tadka greens (the sort of nourishing dish that would drown a cold), and his chaat-style loaded twice-baked potatoes, a recipe which draws from Mumbai’s carnivalesque street food traditions. Meher Mirza, Vogue, 5 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'masala.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Hindi & Urdu masālā materials, ingredients, spices

First Known Use

1780, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of masala was in 1780

Dictionary Entries Near masala

Cite this Entry

“Masala.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/masala. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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