Indian spice box

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jacob
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Indian spice box

Post by jacob »

I saw one of these at a friend's house several years ago and I thought it was some kind of genius construct of watch-making cases in a cookie tin. Color me ignorant :-P However, now that I know (5+ years later) that it's a thing, any observations that I should consider before buying one? Double-lid? Individual lid? Included spoons?

Currently my pantry is a mess (as far as I'm able to conceive it having taken over cooking from DW) and I'd like to simplify it and turn it into a box or three, e.g. Indian, Italian, Mexican, ...

Oh yeah, stackable would be great!

llorona
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Re: Indian spice box

Post by llorona »

Are you going to buy one online or go to an Indian store?

I used to be friends with an Indian woman who had one of those little spice tiffins. I think they are called masala dabba. They are way cool! There are two reasons why I've never bought one, though. The first is that they only hold a few spices each. Since Indian cooking generally relies on a few core spices (cumin, coriander, tumeric, cardamom, etc.) the method works well for Indian food but perhaps not for home-cooks preparing multi-ethnic meals. The second is that unless you're able to buy spices in the precise quantity that each little canister holds, you still have to find someplace to store the rest.

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jennypenny
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Re: Indian spice box

Post by jennypenny »

You could make the box yourself, right? Maybe you could find someone who would give you some baby food jars to use inside for the spices. Small tin cans might also work. If I were making it, I'd probably leave a little extra room between the lid and the jars and attach measuring spoons inside the lid.

I like the concept. I think I'll play around with some of my extra tins to see if I can make something that works for me. I won't buy extra measuring spoons, but different plastic bottle caps can be used as substitutes. Maybe I'll mount the caps to the lid or a popsicle stick or something.

jacob
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Re: Indian spice box

Post by jacob »

I figure I can pick one up at an Indian store for a few bucks? That's cheaper than I can make it. The online offerings I've seen are $20-$100... but I'm not looking for one made out of silver :-P

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jennypenny
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Re: Indian spice box

Post by jennypenny »

One mention in the New Yorker and you're already buying things instead of making them. I knew it would go to your head. ;)

llorona
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Re: Indian spice box

Post by llorona »

Whoa! Didn't realize they cost that much! You can probably get one from an Indian grocery store or spice shop for less. It would also give you the chance to check out the size and quality.

In case it's of interest, CostPlus sells them for $10 but they're smaller than the regular ones: http://www.worldmarket.com/product/stac ... y=ourPicks

Are you going to grow and grind your own spices? :)

jacob
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Re: Indian spice box

Post by jacob »

I already grind my spices using a Vitamix. It makes flour too (usually blows people's mind first time they see it.). I only grow boring stuff like oregano.

Fanne
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Re: Indian spice box

Post by Fanne »

I have seem them too but I had not checked it's prices. Wow if they come this cheap then surely I'll buy a set.

FBeyer
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Re: Indian spice box

Post by FBeyer »

I'm daft; why is a box full of little boxes more clever than just little boxes? What infrastructural awesomeness am I missing?

vexed87
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Re: Indian spice box

Post by vexed87 »

I use the smallest zip lock style bags I can get hold of, label them and chuck them in a old panttone tin. The tin itself, looks good displayed on my kitchen shelf.

jacob
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Re: Indian spice box

Post by jacob »

@FBeyer - Maybe because when you're dispensing 5 different spices onto the pot/wok/pan, you're just standing there with a teaspoon and the box instead of searching/reaching out for various little boxes, unscrewing the cap, etc. Also, it's more orderly. I think it's mostly useful if your cooking requires putting a lot of different spices _in_ the food compared to sprinkling a few spices _on_ the food which is what plastic containers seem to have been designed for.

ArkTinkerer
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Re: Indian spice box

Post by ArkTinkerer »

I wound up using old snuff bottles for spices/herbs. Maybe I've been in the south too long...

llorona
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Re: Indian spice box

Post by llorona »

Jacob, did you figure this out? I went to the Indian grocery store today and they had three sizes of spice boxes ranging from $14.99 to $18.99.

jacob
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Re: Indian spice box

Post by jacob »

Nope, I'm converging on an increasingly number of large plastic containers instead.

Did
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Re: Indian spice box

Post by Did »

We keep all our spices in their original jars laying down on their sides in a drawer. We keep bulk bags if any somewhere else and top up as required.

vexed87
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Re: Indian spice box

Post by vexed87 »

I have a quarter of a shelf dedicated to those mini glass shaker jars, and the stuff that gets used regularly simply gets topped up from a large bags which are clamped shut, these are 0.5-1kg bags which get shoved wherever there is space :).

We have bags of chilli, ginger, garlic and onion powder, cumin, coriander, paprika, masala etc.

Stahlmann
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Re: Indian spice box

Post by Stahlmann »

jacob wrote:Nope, I'm converging on an increasingly number of large plastic containers instead.
What about ,,freshness" of spices? It seems that 1kg jar of spices will last forever, but in terms of ,,freshness" it is quite not so efficient.

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