Every Kitchen Needs a Masala Dabba
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Every home should have at least one masala dabba — “masala” meaning spices, and “dabba” meaning “box” in Hindi. This round metal container with a tight-fitting lid comes with several small round unlidded containers that nest snugly side by side inside it, usually with a shallow tray that rests on top of the containers, and some small spoons. The masala dabba is meant to store your most-used spices; instead of getting out multiple individual containers, you open just the large one to get what you need. Mine sits permanently on my kitchen shelf, perched on top of my most frequently referenced cookbooks, within easy reach.
The exact spices you put in each compartment depends on what you’re using most frequently. I cook Indian meals several times a week, so I keep my garam masala (a mixture of ground cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg that I use in almost every dish to add warmth) in the middle, surrounded by little individual vessels of cumin seeds, cumin powder, coriander powder,turmeric,Kashmiri chili powder, and amchur (dried mango) powder — for when I want to highlight those flavors more individually. On the top tray, I keep whole spices, cinnamon, some cloves, and whole cardamom.
I got my masala dabba from a nondescript steel shop in a narrow lane in Mumbai, but it’s easy to find them online. Reliable Indian brands to look for include Sumeet, Hazel, Avias, and Rani.
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The masala dabba helped me move from relying on measuring spoons to relying on instinct, using my fingers to take imprecise measurements of spices so each day’s food has its own distinct flavor. It also encourages me to cook daily because I’m not rifling through my spice cabinet looking for things I know I’m going to need.
Masala dabbas can be made out of many kinds of materials, but I recommend sticking to stainless-steel ones for food. For a while, I had abeautiful brass one, but the brass reacted with my spices. I couldn’t understand why all my food was tasting bad and then realized the brass was to blame. I went back to my trusted stainless-steel box and moved the brass one to my jewelry shelf to hold earrings and rings. Regardless of material, masala dabbas have many more uses than just for storing spices: They could also hold buttons, pins, and snaps for sewing, all sorts of craft and office supplies, hair accessories, teas, medicines, snacks — the possibilities are endless.
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