I grow tons of herbs in the summer. I'm sure a dehydrator would be perfect for preserving them but I don't think I have the space for even one more piece of kitchen equipment. I just hang them upside down on the handles of my kitchen cabinets until they are all dried out. It works extremely well. The oregano and thyme that I dry myself has so much more flavor than the stuff at the store. I dry them and then store them whole. When I want to use some I rub the leaves between my hands so all the essential oils are released.

I also have a pot inside with a huge rosemary plant. I need to find a place to plant it in the yard because it’s getting almost too big to keep in a pot.

One of the things about growing fresh herbs is the aroma factor. There is nothing like walking into a garden on an early misty morning and smelling the sweet basil or the dill. I can't wait for growing season to start.

The Garam Masala recipe that I have differs from the one for the chicken recipe above. Dried chilies, black peppercorns, cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, cloves, coriander seeds and cumin seeds. It's basically a recipe of warm spices.
If I'm going to invest in some spices I'd like to get the right ones without going through to much trial and error.
I'm sensing a visit to Cathy's Flop page coming soon.

Sometimes you can buy sauces in a bottle with Indian curry flavor already in them, pour it over your chicken, add what spices you have, blend into the sauce.
Cook chicken in sauce *remember sauce is Boss in any dish.

I Love to buy already made Indian rice mixtures (frozen) there so Good, they already have all the Indian spices in them already so the base is in them and you don't have to spend a lot of money on additional spices.

In the summer I will stuff sweet green peppers with Indian rice and it is a very Good vegetarian meal, low fat.

I Love those spices you mentioned cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, I put them all in my sweet-potatoes. Yum, Cookie