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Masale
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Masale
High-altitude spices, pounded in stone rather than machine-ground.
3 products
Products
The method
How the masale are made
Jakhiya, timur and the garam masala spices are grown or gathered in the same hills, sun-dried over several days, and pounded in stone rather than machine-ground. Grinding heats a spice and takes its oils with it.
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Step 1 of 4
Grown or gathered at altitude
Cold nights concentrate the volatile oils that make a spice worth using. The same seed grown in the plains is bigger, cheaper and does considerably less in a pan.
Himalayan grown
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Step 2 of 4
Sun-dried, never kiln-dried
Spread on cloth and turned by hand over several days. A kiln does it in hours and takes the top notes with it — the difference is obvious the moment the jar is opened.
3–5 days in sun
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Step 3 of 4
Pounded in stone, not machine-ground
Stone crushes rather than shears, so the spice never heats up on its way to becoming powder. It is slower, and the grind is uneven in a way a mill cannot reproduce.
Stone-pounded
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Step 4 of 4
Ground in small lots and tested
Ground to order, because a ground spice starts losing its aroma the day it is made. Every lot is tested for adulterants and added colour before it ships.
Ground to order
Before you order
Questions about this
Why is the grind uneven?
Because it is pounded in a stone mortar rather than milled. Stone crushes instead of shearing, so the spice never heats up on its way to becoming powder and keeps the volatile oils that make it worth using. A mill gives you a uniform powder that smells of noticeably less.
How long does ground spice keep?
Use it within about six months. It is ground to order in small lots because a ground spice starts losing aroma the day it is made — which is the opposite of how supermarket masala is produced, months ahead of sale.
What is jakhiya, and what do I do with it?
It is the tempering seed of Uttarakhand — used the way mustard or cumin seed is, crackled in hot fat at the start of a dish. It has a nuttier, less sharp flavour than mustard, and it is almost unknown outside the hills.
Something else on your mind? Ask us directly
Also from Himdhara
The rest of the pantry
Everything Himdhara makes comes from the same Uttarakhand valleys and is held to the same batch testing, whichever category it belongs to.
