No. 01Everyday
Alleppey Haldi
Ground turmeric · 200 g tin · Alleppey, Kerala
Heat 0 of 5
Deep gold turmeric from the backwaters, boiled, sun-dried and stone-ground. Warm, earthy and a little bitter, the way haldi should be.
Dabba & Daughters
The counter on Bazaar Road, Mattancherry
01 / 12Everyday
Ground turmeric · 200 g tin · Alleppey, Kerala
Heat 0 of 5
Every tin sits on one of four shelves. Lift a lid to bring its spices forward in the shop and on the wheel.
Each spice has its heat on the label, drawn in chillies from none to five. Prices are for one tin.
No. 01Everyday
Ground turmeric · 200 g tin · Alleppey, Kerala
Heat 0 of 5
Deep gold turmeric from the backwaters, boiled, sun-dried and stone-ground. Warm, earthy and a little bitter, the way haldi should be.
No. 02Everyday
Eleven whole spices, roasted · 100 g tin
Heat 2 of 5
Cardamom, cinnamon, clove, mace, bay and black pepper, dry-roasted in an iron kadhai and ground cool. A pinch at the end of the cooking.
No. 03Everyday
Coriander, chana dal, red chilli · 200 g tin
Heat 2 of 5
Our grandmother's ratio from Palakkad: more coriander than chilli, roasted dal for body and a little fenugreek for the bitter edge.
No. 04Fire
Ground chilli · 200 g tin · Kashmir valley
Heat 2 of 5
All colour and gentle warmth. It turns a curry brick red without taking the roof of your mouth off.
No. 05Fire
Crushed sannam chilli · 100 g tin · Andhra Pradesh
Heat 4 of 5
Sharp, bright and properly hot, with the seeds left in. For tadka, pickles and anyone who finds Kashmiri too polite.
No. 06Fire
Ground ghost chilli · 50 g tin · Assam
Heat 5 of 5
Smoked over wood in the Brahmaputra valley, then ground fine. Fruity for a second, then very, very hot.
No. 07Whole
Whole black peppercorns · 150 g tin · Malabar
Heat 3 of 5
The large, ripe berries picked last on the vine. Crack them in a mortar for a citrus heat that ground pepper loses in a week.
No. 08Whole
Whole pods, 8 mm bold · 100 g tin · Idukki
Heat 0 of 5
Plump green pods from the Cardamom Hills, dried in shade so they keep their colour and their eucalyptus sweetness.
No. 09Whole
Whole hand-picked buds · 100 g tin · Kerala
Heat 1 of 5
Fat, oily cloves with their heads on. Two in the rice water, one in the chai, a handful for the biryani.
No. 10Regional
Amchur, black salt, roasted cumin · 100 g tin
Heat 2 of 5
Sour, salty and sulphur-sharp. Shake it over guava, fruit, raita or a plate of hot potatoes and watch it disappear.
No. 11Regional
Five whole seeds · 100 g tin · Bengal
Heat 0 of 5
Fenugreek, nigella, cumin, fennel and black mustard in equal parts. Crackle it in hot mustard oil before the dal goes in.
No. 12Regional
Dark roasted blend · 100 g tin · Pune
Heat 2 of 5
The Maharashtrian kitchen's sweet, smoky blend: dagad phool, coconut and sesame roasted dark. Made for amti and masale bhaat.
Nothing in this collection right now.
Every spice is a segment of the wheel, coloured like its tin. The further a segment reaches, the hotter it is. Turn it until the one you want is under the pointer.
Everyday01 / 12
Ground turmeric · 200 g tin · Alleppey, Kerala
Deep gold turmeric from the backwaters, boiled, sun-dried and stone-ground. Warm, earthy and a little bitter, the way haldi should be.
Heat 0 of 5
We roast and grind every week in small lots, so the oils are still in the spice when the lid comes off.
We buy at the Mattancherry auctions and straight from growers we know in Idukki, Guntur and Assam.
Chillies and turmeric dry on the roof in the sun; cardamom dries in the shade to keep it green.
Blends are roasted in iron, cooled on cloth and ground slowly on stone, a few kilos at a time.
Packed into lined tins with the grind date written on the lid, and sealed the same day.
The shop is the front of our godown, two lanes from the Jew Town synagogue. Write to us for a custom blend, a refill or a question about a spice.
We have received your order and emailed you a copy.