For a dish you know
Spices & Blends
Whole spices, and blends that say the dish on the label.
A spice should smell like the day it dried. We gather them the way we gather a harvest: who grew it, and whether the name is honest when the lid comes off.
A blend earns a place when you already know the meal. The label says sambar, rasam, chai — the dish, not a mood. The recipe stays steady enough to cook again.
An illustrative photograph. Not a True North field or pack.
The spices themselves
Seeds, pods, bark, and chilies. Each one is allowed to be only itself. The mill, when there is one, does not get to hide.
Spices
Whole and ground spices, named for the crop they were.
Enquire about SpicesCumin / Jeera
Jeera, the seed a tadka starts with.
Enquire about Cumin / JeeraCoriander / Dhania
Dhania seed, citrus and warm, for the pot and the grind.
Enquire about Coriander / DhaniaRed chili
Dried red chili, for heat in the food and honesty on the label.
Enquire about Red chiliBlack pepper / Kali mirch
Peppercorns, dark and whole, for the mill on the table.
Enquire about Black pepper / Kali mirchMustard seed / Rai
Rai, the seed for the tadka, cousin to the oil and not the same.
Enquire about Mustard seed / RaiGreen cardamom / Elaichi
Green pods, for the pot and for chai, still pods.
Enquire about Green cardamom / ElaichiClove / Laung
Whole cloves, nail-shaped and exact.
Enquire about Clove / LaungCinnamon / Dalchini
Bark, curled, for the pot and the cup.
Enquire about Cinnamon / Dalchini
Blends that name the dish
Open the tin and you should know what you are about to cook. If the label needs a feeling instead of a meal, it waits.
Sambar blend
A blend measured for sambar, the dish named on the label.
Enquire about Sambar blendRasam blend
Spices for rasam, so the pot has a name and the blend does too.
Enquire about Rasam blendChole blend
A blend for chole, the chickpea pot it was measured for.
Enquire about Chole blendPav bhaji blend
Spices for pav bhaji, named for the dish on the griddle.
Enquire about Pav bhaji blendBiryani blend
Whole spices gathered for biryani, the dish written on the tin.
Enquire about Biryani blendChai blend
Spices for chai, so the cup is the point.
Enquire about Chai blendIdli podi
A podi for idli, named for the dish it meets.
Enquire about Idli podi
If a kitchen of yours is missing one of these, ask. We are gathering them with growers. We are not taking payment on this page.