Spices

Cardamom (ஏலக்காய்) – the Queen of Spices, whose sweet, floral aroma defines Indian tea, sweets and biryani alike. These are whole green cardamom pods, which is the form worth buying. The volatile oils that carry the aroma begin to fade the moment a pod is opened, so pods keep their fragrance for months while ready-ground powder loses it in weeks. Crush a pod between your fingers and the difference is obvious. Its range is unusually wide. Whole pods go into biryani, pulao, garam masala and kashayam. Crushed seeds flavour payasam, kheer, halwa, ladoo and badam milk. A single pod transforms a cup of tea or filter coffee. In Kerala and Tamil Nadu it also finishes meat and vegetable curries, and it is chewed plain after a meal as a mouth freshener. Cardamom has a long history in Ayurvedic practice for digestion, and is traditionally taken after heavy meals for that reason. Store whole pods in an airtight container away from light and heat, and grind only what a recipe needs. Pods that have gone pale or lost their scent have lost most of their oils and are worth replacing. Order online or over WhatsApp, with cash on delivery available.

Cinnamon (இலவங்கப்பட்டை) – warm, sweet and woody bark, one of the oldest spices in the world and a fixture in both Indian and Western kitchens. Cinnamon's aroma comes from its oils, and those are strongest in the whole bark. A small piece dropped into hot oil at the start of cooking releases far more than the equivalent in powder, and whole quills keep their fragrance for a year or more where ground cinnamon fades within months. In Indian cooking it is a base spice rather than a finishing one: a piece goes into the tempering for biryani, pulao, garam masala, korma and meat curries, where it provides warmth underneath everything else. In sweets and baking it moves to the front, flavouring cakes, buns, apple desserts, custard and mulled drinks. A stick simmered in tea or kashayam is a standard home remedy for a cold. Cinnamon is rich in antioxidants and has a long traditional association with digestion and blood sugar, though it is a spice rather than a treatment. Store whole quills in an airtight jar away from light and heat, and break or grind pieces only as needed. Order online or over WhatsApp, with cash on delivery available.

Black pepper (மிளகு) – the King of Spices, grown in the Western Ghats and used in South Indian kitchens more than almost anywhere else. These are whole black peppercorns. Buying whole is not fussiness: pepper's heat and aroma come from oils that escape almost immediately once the corn is cracked, so freshly ground pepper is sharper, more fragrant and more citrusy than anything from a packet of powder. In Tamil cooking pepper is foundational, not a table condiment. It is the defining spice of milagu rasam and pepper chicken, it is ground with cumin into milagu kuzhambu, it seasons curd rice and buttermilk, and it is crushed into kashayam with tulsi and ginger at the first sign of a cold. In Western cooking it finishes almost everything, from eggs to salads to steak. Pepper contains piperine, the compound behind its pungency, which is also known to improve absorption of turmeric's curcumin, a reason the two are so often cooked together. Store whole peppercorns in an airtight jar away from heat and light, where they keep their potency for years, and grind fresh at the point of use. Order online or over WhatsApp, with cash on delivery available.