Sichuan peppercorns in garam masala

The other day I picked up a bag of garam masala at Metro Spice Mart on Jefferson. Typically, I pick up a bag of Swad brand, but they didn't have any, so I just grabbed a bag of what turned out to be Deep Foods brand. Reading the label, it appears to be a product of India. However, the second ingredient on the garam masala ingredients list was Sichuan pepper. I don't think I've come across Sichuan peppercorns in garam masala before, or in recipes for garam masala. Is this just a quirk of this particular brand, or are Sichuan peppercorns perhaps common in some regional Indian cuisines and their garam masalas? I was wondering if it was a mistranslation but, tasting it, it does seem to have that numbing, tingling, mouth-salivating nature of Sichuan pepper going on.

It is a tasty garam masala, but a bit different than what I'm used to.

Interesting question Binko. Who knew? but there's a closely related species native to India, and the peppercorn itself isn't unknown. Here's a short discussion:

https://mangalorespice.com/products/szechuan-pepper-teppal

Geo

Geo wrote:Interesting question Binko. Who knew? but there's a closely related species native to India, and the peppercorn itself isn't unknown. Here's a short discussion:

https://mangalorespice.com/products/szechuan-pepper-teppal

Geo

Yeah, I'm wondering if it might be something else. It doesn't seem quite as strong as I would expect it to be if it were the second ingredient in a masala, but I definitely swear I taste some sort of tingliness to the spice mix, unless it's just psychosomatic.

Edited to add on 2/11/20: After cooking up another meal with this garam masala, I definitely feel that back/side-of-the-tongue tingly and salivating sensation after eating my meal. So it probably is Sichuan peppercorn (or a very similar spice.)

Typically Tellicherry peppercorns are used but there are many pepper corns in south India. My husbands family had rubber estates there and they raised peppercorns there as well. I brought some back from India when I went and they were good.