The Spice Box

Just finished reading Meera Sriram and Sandhya Prabhat’s “The Spice Box”. Not only is the story a beautiful reminder of how spice boxes are handed over from one generation to the next, but also a nudge that you don’t really need loads of spices for cooking Indian dishes.

The book also reminds me of my mum’s spice box. Each region in India has its own core ingredients that go into it. In the east of India, the core ingredients are whole cumin জিরে, coriander ধনে, mustard seeds সর্ষে, carom seeds জোয়ান, fennel মৌরি, and wild celery seeds রাধুনি. For the ease of “maintaining” the spice box, she would store the powdered spices separately. And trust me, no other store-bought curry powders are needed to cook up a storm!

Here’s to healthy eating and happy reading in 2025!