Masala Exchange: Tasting India through traditional home-made spice mixes

It was a weekday morning. I was lazily sifting through the pile of envelopes that had been couriered to me, and strange as it may seem, a rather plain-looking one stood out. It had a strong, pungent smell. I’d been waiting for something like this, though I didn’t know what to expect. Inside was a sachet of garam masala. Home-made! And accompanying it was a thick, single-lined page with bold red-and-black, almost calligraphic strokes smack in the middle, saying, “Hello! It’s me”. The sender had my attention even before I got to the main part, written in blue gel pen. With great excitement and pride s/he informed: “This is a special garam masala from my kitchen. Yes, we make our own… and I can say my food tastes much better with this than the one bought off a (sic) shelf”.

The rest of the letter was a Bengali Dum Aloo recipe to be cooked in mustard oil. Imagining it had come from Kolkata, I couldn’t have been more excited. It wasn’t until I flipped the page around and came to the end of the explanation, that I found out who my 'masala mate' was—Nishita. Yes, that’s all, just Nishita. No last name. No contact details to revert to with a ‘thank you’ note.

My mouth was watering, but I would have to wait till the weekend to use the masala and cook the dum aloo. Just as thrilling was the prospect of making a batch of my own family’s masala, something I had never done earlier, with recipes and cooking ideas to send to one Aparna Balasubramaniam residing in Kochi.

We had all signed up for a 'masala exchange' that food writer and consultant Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal came up with to kick-start the first-ever Masala Day on May 20, to celebrate Indian spice mixes that are an integral part of our palettes.

"We only observe Western food days, or ones promoted by marketing agencies to push products. But last March, I came across Pakhala Divas that sees the Oriya community worldwide cook and celebrate the curd-based rice preparation. What a great idea! I thought we should do the same for other Indian food,” says Ghildiyal.

So early this year, an enthusiastic Ghildiyal promoted Aam Achar Day (April 22), the time when mangoes are pickled, and Papad Badi Day (May 13) as both are dried in summer. Honouring these days led to spreads of unique delicacies prepared by people from different communities at Ghildiyal’s APB Cook Studio. But celebrating our masalas, which historically allured traders and travellers like Vasco da Gama to India, is surely special. It is masalas that make meals of one home taste distinctly different from another, even when dished out by members of the same community.

As for Ghildiyal, a Gujarati married to a Garhwali, she ditches the khakras and theplas for masalas “especially chai masala” when she’s travelling and expects to cook. “Even if you get all the other ingredients, the food won’t taste the same if you don’t have the right masalas,” she adds.

About a week before May 20, she posted about the masala exchange on Facebook and asked for addresses of those who wished to participate. A few days later, those of us who went ‘aye’ got simple instructions:

1. Make a packet of your family's/cuisine's signature masala/spice mix. Add a note about its use and a favourite recipe.
    
2. Send it to a stranger (I’ll send you a name and address) and me.
    
3. Share when you receive the masalas you are sent and what you do with them here on Facebook.

While some sent it before May 20, some managed on the day and many like Aparna and me dispatched them many days later due to our busy schedules.

On the day, at her studio, Ghildiyal also hosted a secret swappers lunch, a rather private affair that saw friends including chef Ranveer Brar, Ananya Banerjee, the Dalals (Kurush and wife) and about 10-12 others. Preparation for it had begun a few days earlier, with each invitee having ground, parcelled and posted to her 15-packets-worth of their specialty masalas ranging from Lazzat e Tamaan used in Lucknowi kebabs to Madhya Pradesh's lal mirch ki danthal (stem) ka masala. Why so much? So that post the meal they could all take back goodie bags of 15 different masalas! Yes, I’m feeling just as jealous as you.

Twitter too was flooded with #masaladay posts of those, who like me had participated in the public masala exchange and had received their parcels or tried their hands at the recipes provided. Even a fortnight later the exchange continues as many had reposted Ghildiyal’s idea on Facebook and started exchanges of their own, turning what had begun with about 15 foodies to a masala chain to include many more than it’s now possible to trace.

As we speak, I’ve already cooked up the dum aloo that turned out every bit as fiery and delicious as it sounded promising, and have finally learnt my sender’s last name: Biyani. This is a rather interesting revelation because it means she’s Marwari, and so would have been her garam masala, but the recipe she gave me was Bengali. Does she have family in Kolkata? It's quite likely since a lot of Marwaris reside in West Bengal’s capital city, although she's a Mumbaikar. And imagine the irony, although the recipes I shared with the Kochi-based stranger are Gujarati—the community I belong to—the spice mix I prepared for her was a Maharashtrian ‘vada pav masala’. I chose it for the occasion not only because it wouldn’t get spoilt en route (most of the wet masalas we prepare at home would), but also because it’s something I relish as much as I do Gujarati ones. Still wondering why that matters? It reflects the beauty of India’s true cosmopolitan spirit, best captured by our food habits and cultural overlaps in home cooking.