At last.....the masala dabba!

After a wait of what seemed like a month but was actually only 4 days, my masala dabba has finally arrived!
When you are seriously into Indian cuisine, unless you start with unloading the entire spice cupboard/ drawer etc and selecting everything you might be requiring, then you are going to need one of these for your most used spices. Indeed, its not uncommon to have 2 of these - perhaps one for powdered and one for whole spices - but in this case I am good with just the one.
I've gone with the large - 24cm/ 9.5" diameter stainless steel model and purchased it from www.redhotcurry.com after some careful research, and for a snip at £18. You can get them prefilled with spices already but I would recommend you (a) decide yourself what you would like in them, and (b), grind them yourself.
Similarly, many come with pre laser etched labels on the pots - unless you are convinced that is exactly what you want in your masala dabba then this would irritate me!
Many models come with transparent lids. I cannot see the point - you want your spices in airtight and light-tight storage - and when you come to need them, your lids will be off anyway - thats the point of the thing!
Don't go overboard: whilst this model has a pretty much airtight outer lid (there are two), you still only really want to be grinding up only what you will get through in, say a month.

So, to fill it. This of course is mainly a matter of personal taste and will largely depend on what you cook regularly and therefore what spices you need - although there are a couple of "rules"...

• No corrosive stuff! battery acid is pretty obvious, but also think salt, bicarbonate of soda (you don't have to use these things for spices of course!), and citric acid
• You don't want anything really pungent - like asafoetida for example - or spices where you want to keep the aroma as fresh as possible - such as cardamom seeds which you want to keep really airtight
• No dessicants - almond powder, dessicated coconut, silica packets you get in shoe boxes etc!
• Finally, no oily seeds such as sesame

Other than that, the World is your oyster.
What have I put in mine then.....



Clockwise from the 12 o'clock......Whole Cumin seeds; Dhania Jeera (see below); Turmeric powder; Mustard seeds; Garam Masala; Ground Coriander; and in the middle currently resides Extra hot crushed dried chillies (Still thinking about the middle one)

Dhania Jeera
As the name implies, this at its simplest is a blend of ground coriander and ground cumin and I use it quite a bit (look carefully at your recipes - frequently they will separate the two out in the ingredients list but in the method you will see they often go in together)
That said, I have yet to see any ingredients lists for dhania jeera that didn't manage to fit a few more spices into the mix - likewise the balance of coriander to cumin seeds is highly varied!
Some "recipes" for this can include all sorts of things like Indian Bayleaf, fenugreek seeds, mace, nutmeg, cinnamon, chilli, cloves, cardamom and poppy seeds......but I have gone with a simpler route, based on some commonalities across them all which I found:-

3tbsp coriander seeds, 1 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds, 1/2 tbsp black peppercorns, 2 cloves, 6cm piece of cinnamon and 1 dried mild kashmiri chilli.

Usual methodology applies - dry pan, roast them all off for a couple of minutes and then allow to cool completely. Grind up in the mortar in small batches to ensure a fine powder and you are in business!