Masala

Masala (also known as "massala") is a term used in Indian cooking to describe a mixture of many spices. Some common appearances of the word masala include:

• Masala chai or chai, a tea made with milk, sugar, and several spices,
• Garam masala, a premade mixture of ground spices used for flavoring foods (some other mixtures exist, such as Tandoori masala, Kashmiri masala, Madras masala, Sambhar masala, Dhansak masala, and Green masala),
• Chicken Tikka Masala, a westernized "Indian" dish based on Chicken Tikka and cooked in a sauce, or curry,
• Masala dosa, an Indian dosa stuffed with lightly spiced potatoes,
• Masala movies, Indian movies which combine a large number of different dramatic elements such as song and dance, drama, comedy, romance, and action. (See Bollywood)
• Paan masala, a mixture of ground betel nuts and other spices.

Not to be confused with Marsala as in Marsala wine, used in Italian cuisine.