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Our jatan · how it's made

Four steps, none of them fast.

This is exactly what happens between a farmer's sack and the jar on your shelf. Nothing here is a marketing word; it's the actual routine of our kitchen.

STEP 1

Source whole

Organic whole spices and oilseeds from farmers we know by name. Nothing arrives already powdered, because powder can hide anything.

STEP 2

Sun-dry & hand-clean

Every stem, stone and spoiled pod is picked out by hand before anything touches the grinder. Chillies are stem-cut one by one.

STEP 3

Grind or press small

Masale are ground in batches sized for a week. Oils are pressed slowly in a ghani so the seed never heats up and the aroma stays.

STEP 4

Pack & date

Each pack carries its batch chit: what it is, the day it was ground or pressed, and who packed it.

Why small batches

A ground spice starts losing its volatile oils the moment it's powdered — that's the smell you notice, or don't. Grinding a week's worth at a time means what reaches you is closer to what came off the sil-batta. It also means we sometimes run out. The "X of Y left" bar on each product is honest: when a batch is gone, it's gone until we grind again.

Why a ghani, not a refinery

Refined oil is heated, bleached and deodorised to make it colourless and shelf-stable. A ghani presses the seed slowly at low temperature and leaves the oil as it is — cloudy at first, strongly scented, the colour of the seed. We filter it through cloth and nothing else. It behaves differently: mustard oil will be pungent, coconut oil will go solid in winter. That's the point.

What we don't do

The batch chit

Every pack has a small paper chit with the product, size, the day it was ground or pressed, a best-before window, and who packed it. If a pack ever arrives without one, message us — that's our mistake.

Our replacement promise: if something doesn't smell right when you open it, we replace it. No questions, no forms. Read the policy.

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