Spice & Pantry

What each ingredient is doing, how to buy it, and how long it really lasts.

20 articles · page 1 of 2

Spice & Pantry

Buying whole spices is not about freshness in the way you think

Whole spices do last longer than ground ones, but the reason is a matter of surface area and physics rather than anything to do with age.

By Sanaya Dastur · August 22, 2026 · 3 min read

Spice & Pantry

Most of what is in a jar of asafoetida is not asafoetida

Compounded hing is mostly flour and gum by weight, which explains its odd behaviour in the pan and why…

Jul 20, 2026 · 3 min read

Spice & Pantry

Chilli is two separate variables and shoppers usually consider only one

Heat and colour come from different compounds and are not correlated, which is why a kitchen that takes…

Jul 19, 2026 · 3 min read

Spice & Pantry

Atta goes stale in a way that rice and dal do not

The wheat germ that makes wholemeal flour worth eating also contains oil, and oil in a warm cupboard is on…

Jul 16, 2026 · 3 min read

Spice & Pantry

Rice is sorted by its starch, not by its reputation

Whether a rice cooks up separate or sticky is decided by the ratio of two starch molecules, and that single…

Jul 15, 2026 · 3 min read

Spice & Pantry

Gram flour behaves like nothing else in the cupboard

Besan has no gluten, holds a great deal of water, sets when heated and tastes raw until it is cooked out…

May 22, 2026 · 4 min read

Spice & Pantry

Turmeric is a dye first and a flavour second

The compound that makes turmeric yellow is fat-soluble, changes colour with acidity and fades in light…

May 19, 2026 · 4 min read

Spice & Pantry

Dried curry leaves are a different ingredient, not a weaker one

What makes a curry leaf worth using is almost entirely volatile, so drying does not concentrate it — it…

May 18, 2026 · 4 min read

Spice & Pantry

Jaggery in a savoury dish is not there to make it sweet

A small piece of gur adjusts acidity, rounds off bitterness and changes how a gravy tastes at the edges…

May 14, 2026 · 4 min read

Spice & Pantry

Mustard seeds make their heat only after they are broken

The sinus-clearing sharpness of mustard is produced by an enzyme reaction that needs damage and water, and…

May 10, 2026 · 4 min read

Spice & Pantry

Black salt tastes of sulphur because that is what was put into it

Kala namak is not a mineral that happened to come out of the ground smelling like that — the smell is the…

Mar 26, 2026 · 3 min read

Spice & Pantry

Ghee is butter with the two unstable parts taken out

Removing water and milk solids is what lets ghee keep without refrigeration and reach tempering…

Mar 25, 2026 · 3 min read

Spice & Pantry

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