Indian

TRS Madras Curry Powder — Hot is the fuller-strength blend in the Madras range, built on coriander, cumin, turmeric, fenugreek and a heavier hand of chilli. It carries real heat, not just colour.

This is the Hot grade. If you would rather have the aroma without the burn, the Mild version of the same blend is the one to reach for.

Best for

• Madras curries with lamb, chicken or fish
• Dry-fried potato and vegetable dishes
• Marinades, and seasoning for rice and lentils

Using it

Fry the powder in a little oil for 30 to 60 seconds before adding onions or tomatoes. That short bloom takes away the raw edge and brings the aroma out properly.

Pack and storage

100 g. Keep sealed, away from heat and light.

Priya Extra Hot Mango Avakaya Pickle is the Andhra avakaya made at a higher chilli level: raw mango pieces cured in mustard, chilli powder and oil, cut so the pieces hold their shape. Take the name literally. This is a genuinely fierce pickle and the mustard sits right behind the heat.

Best for

• Hot rice with a generous spoon of ghee
• Curd rice, which takes the edge off
• Plain dosa or pesarattu

Serving

A quarter-teaspoon is a serving for most people, so start smaller than you would with a milder pickle. Use a dry spoon at every serving and press the pieces back down so the oil covers the pickle before the jar is closed, because the part that sits above the oil is the part that spoils. Always serve something plain and cooling next to it.

Pack and storage

300g jar. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Priya Tender Mango Pickle is whole baby mangoes, vadu mangai, cured in salted brine rather than in oil. The small fruit stay firm and are eaten whole, and the brine itself turns sour and salty enough to be spooned over rice on its own.

Best for

• Curd rice
• Plain rice with a little of the brine spooned over
• Lemon rice and other tiffin rice dishes

Serving

Lift out two or three mangoes at a time with a dry spoon, never with fingers, and push the remaining fruit back under the liquid before closing the jar, as anything left standing above the brine will spoil. The brine is part of the pickle and should not be drained off. This one is particularly good served cool with curd rice in warm weather.

Pack and storage

300g jar. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

MDH Hyderabadi Biryani Masala is the blend for dum biryani in the Hyderabadi style, where the character is aromatic and warm rather than sour. Whole-spice notes of cardamom, clove and cinnamon lead, with moderate chilli behind them.

Best for

• Hyderabadi chicken or mutton dum biryani
• Marinating meat in yoghurt before layering
• Vegetable biryani and spiced rice dishes

Using it

Most of it belongs in the marinade. Mix about three teaspoons into yoghurt with ginger, garlic, fried onion and mint for half a kilo of meat, and leave it for at least an hour. Layer with rice boiled to seventy per cent, seal the pot and cook on the lowest possible flame for twenty-five minutes. Keep a pinch back to scatter between the layers.

Pack and storage

50g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Dildaar Basmati Extra Long supplied as a pack of two, for households that get through rice steadily and would rather not reorder every few weeks. It is the same long-grain aromatic rice as the single packs: grains that elongate on cooking, stay separate and firm, and carry a clear aroma that comes through in plain rice as much as in biryani.

Best for

• Biryani and pulao
• Everyday steamed rice with dal and curries
• Jeera rice and fried rice

How to cook it

Rinse until the water runs clear and soak for twenty to thirty minutes, which is what allows a long grain to lengthen rather than break. For plain rice, one cup of rice to one and a half cups of water, boiled then covered on the lowest heat for twelve minutes, with ten minutes of resting before the lid comes off. For biryani, parboil to about seventy per cent in salted water, drain, and finish layered on low heat. Loosen the cooked rice with a fork.

Pack and storage

Supplied as a pack of two. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, and leave the second pack unopened until it is needed. Keep rice airtight and away from strong spices, whose aroma basmati absorbs easily.

Aachi Pani Puri Kit brings together the crisp hollow puris and the masala for the spiced water, so the street-food snack can be put together at home without hunting down the parts separately. The masala is sour and salty with mint and cumin behind it, which is the flavour people are actually after when they order pani puri.

Best for

• Pani puri and golgappa at home
• Party and gathering snacks, since guests assemble their own
• Using the masala on its own over fruit chaat or salad

How to cook it

Stir the masala into cold water, taste it, and let it stand for twenty to thirty minutes so the flavour comes out fully; adding fresh coriander, mint and a squeeze of lemon lifts it further. Chill the water well, as lukewarm pani is the usual disappointment. Boiled potato and soaked chickpeas make the standard filling. Crack the top of each puri, fill it, dip and eat it in one, and assemble only as you go, because a filled puri collapses within seconds.

Pack and storage

133g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Aachi Fish Curry Masala is a coastal-style spice blend with tamarind, kokum and warming spices that perfectly complement fish and seafood. It creates rich, tangy South Indian fish curry gravies with minimal effort.

• Coastal spice blend with tamarind notes
• Perfect for South Indian fish curry and gravy
  

Aachi Hyderabadi Dum Biryani Masala is a carefully balanced spice blend capturing the royal flavours of Hyderabadi dum biryani. It combines star anise, kewra, saffron notes and warm spices for an authentic result every time.

• Authentic Hyderabadi dum biryani spice profile
• Contains whole spice extracts and saffron notes
  

Parle-G Biscuits are India's most beloved glucose biscuits, enjoyed by generations for their sweet, milky taste. This multipack of 10 x 79.9g is perfect for sharing and snacking.

Haldiram's Minute Khana Tandoori Garlic Naan is a frozen leavened flatbread studded with garlic and finished in the tandoor style, with charred blisters and a soft, chewy pull. It is made to a vegan recipe, and the garlic comes through clearly once the bread hits the heat.

Best for

• Serving with dals and thick curries
• Dinner for two or three
• Tearing and sharing at the table

How to cook it

Cook from frozen — do not thaw. On a tawa over medium-high heat, cook about a minute a side until it puffs and the blisters darken. In an oven, heat at 200°C for four to five minutes on a tray. Brush with oil or vegan butter straight off the heat and serve at once, while it is still soft.

Pack and storage

400 g pack containing 5 pieces. Keep frozen at -18°C. Do not refreeze once thawed.

Haldiram's Minute Khana Onion Paratha is a frozen stuffed wheat flatbread with a spiced onion filling at medium heat. The onion cooks down into the filling as the paratha heats, keeping it juicy where a potato filling would be dry.

Best for

• Breakfast with curd and pickle
• A quick dinner with raita
• Lunchboxes and packed meals

How to cook it

Cook straight from frozen. Place on a tawa heated over medium heat and cook about two minutes a side, until brown patches appear across the surface. Add a little oil or ghee and finish each side for a further thirty seconds so it crisps while the filling warms through.

Pack and storage

400 g pack containing 4 pieces. Keep frozen at -18°C. Do not refreeze once thawed.

Tubzee Kulfi Ice in mango — a 1 litre tub of Indian frozen dessert, made with mango.

Kulfi is set rather than churned, which gives it a denser, creamier bite than ice cream and a slower melt. The mango version carries the fruit clearly against the cooked-milk base, sweet without turning into a sorbet.

Serve it in scoops, cut into blocks, or with falooda and a spoon of chopped pistachio on top. A tub also makes the easy end to a big meal, where something cold and fruity lands better than a heavy dessert.

Let the tub stand at room temperature for about five minutes before scooping. Keep frozen; do not refreeze once it has softened.

MTR Lemon Rice Powder is a ready-made seasoning mix for preparing lemon rice, also known as chitranna, a popular South Indian rice dish flavoured with lemon, mustard seeds, curry leaves and peanuts. Instead of preparing the tempering and spice mix from scratch, this powder is simply mixed into cooked rice.

The finished dish has a tangy, citrusy flavour balanced with the nutty crunch of peanuts and the mild heat of curry leaf tempering, and is often eaten on its own or packed as a travel meal.

How to use

• Cook plain rice and let it cool slightly.
• Mix in the lemon rice powder along with a little oil, tossing gently until evenly coated.
• Adjust the amount of powder to taste and serve at room temperature or slightly warm.

Pack size: 100g. Store in a cool, dry place.

TRS Cumin Powder (Jeera) is ground cumin seed — warm, earthy and faintly smoky, and one of the two ground spices most Indian gravies are built on. This is the large 400 g catering-size pack for a kitchen that goes through it steadily.

Best for

• Everyday curry and gravy bases
• Jeera aloo, raita and chaat
• Kebab mixes, marinades and dry rubs

Using it

Fry it with the softened onions for 30 to 60 seconds before adding tomatoes or water, so the raw edge cooks off. Two parts coriander powder to one part cumin is a reliable starting point for a north Indian gravy. Because the pack is large, decant a few weeks' worth into a small jar and keep the rest sealed — ground spice fades once air gets at it.

Pack and storage

400 g. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Priya Gongura Onion Pickle takes the same sour roselle-leaf base and cooks onion into it, which rounds off the sharp edge and gives the pickle more body and a faint sweetness. It is made without garlic, and it is the gentler of the gongura pickles.

Best for

• Hot rice with ghee or sesame oil
• Curd rice and dal rice
• Chapati, dosa and paratha

Serving

Because the onion softens the sourness, this one takes a fuller spoonful than plain gongura and works better as a spread on a chapati or roll. Use a dry spoon at every serving and press the pickle down so the oil settles back over the top before closing the jar. Never return leftover pickle from a plate to the jar.

Pack and storage

300g jar. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Priya Green Chilli Pickle is sliced green chillies pickled in oil with mustard and salt, made without garlic. This is one of the hotter pickles on the shelf: the chilli is the whole point of it, softened but not tamed by the spices around it.

Best for

• Curd rice and plain dal and rice
• Paratha, roti and khichdi
• Pulihora and other tiffin rice dishes

Serving

Take one or two slices rather than a spoonful, at least until you know how hot you find it. Use a dry spoon and press the chillies back under the oil before putting the jar away, as any piece left above the oil line will spoil ahead of the rest. Serving it next to curd or yoghurt rice is the usual way to keep the heat in balance.

Pack and storage

300g jar. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

MTR Instant Dosa Mix is a ready-to-mix batter powder for making dosa, the thin, crisp South Indian rice and lentil crepe. Instead of soaking and grinding rice and urad dal at home, this pack lets you prepare a dosa batter simply by adding water.

The dosa made from this mix has a mild, slightly tangy flavour typical of fermented rice batter, with a crisp texture when cooked well on a hot tawa (griddle).

How to use

• Mix the powder with water to form a smooth, pourable batter and let it rest briefly.
• Heat a tawa or non-stick pan, pour a ladle of batter and spread thinly in a circular motion.
• Drizzle a little oil around the edges and cook until golden and crisp, then fold or roll and serve with chutney or sambar.

Pack size: 200g. Store in a cool, dry place.

Haldiram's Dakshin Express Madras Mixture is a south Indian style namkeen of thin sev, fried lentils, peanuts and curry leaves in a coconut-and-chilli seasoning. The curry leaf and the heat are more pronounced than in a northern mixture, giving it a drier, spicier finish.

Best with

• Filter coffee or chai
• Evening snacking with a bit of heat
• Serving alongside upma or curd rice

Pack and storage

180 g pack. Keep in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

MDH Karahi Chicken Masala is the blend for chicken cooked quickly in a karahi with tomato, ginger and green chilli. It is pepper-forward and lightly tangy, meant for a thick clinging masala rather than a thin, slow-simmered gravy.

Best for

• Chicken karahi and kadai chicken
• Quick tomato-based chicken dishes
• Dry-fried chicken with capsicum and onion

Using it

Fry the chicken in hot oil until it colours, add chopped tomato and cook it down, then stir in two to three teaspoons for half a kilo of chicken. Keep the flame high and stir until the oil separates and the masala coats the pieces. Add julienned ginger and green chilli at the end, and keep water out of it so the gravy stays thick.

Pack and storage

100g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

MDH Pav Bhaji Masala is the blend behind Mumbai's mashed vegetable bhaji, and it is more tangy than hot. Dried mango and black pepper give it the sharp finish that makes the dish taste of the street cart rather than of a plain vegetable curry.

Best for

• Pav bhaji with potato, peas, capsicum and tomato
• Masala pav and tawa-fried vegetables
• Spiced potato fillings and toasted sandwiches

Using it

Fry it in butter with the onion and tomato until the mixture darkens, then mash the boiled vegetables straight into the pan. About two and a half teaspoons suits a bhaji for four. Keep mashing on a low flame so the masala works right through, and add a small extra pinch with a squeeze of lemon just before serving to lift the tang.

Pack and storage

100gm pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Telugu Foods Kashmiri Chilli is the whole dried chilli used for deep red colour rather than heat. It is noticeably milder than a Guntur chilli, which is why it is what goes into tandoori marinades, rogan josh and butter chicken, where the dish needs to look red without becoming too hot to eat.

Best for

• Tandoori marinades and tikka
• Rogan josh, butter chicken and other North Indian gravies
• Colouring pickles, chutneys and chilli pastes

Using it

Soak four or five chillies in hot water for twenty minutes and grind them to a smooth paste; a wet paste releases far more colour into the oil than dry powder does. Fry the paste in the oil at the start of the gravy until the oil takes on the colour, which is the step that makes the difference. For a tempering, use them whole and lift them out before they darken. Mix them with a hotter chilli when you want both colour and heat.

Pack and storage

100g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, in an airtight jar away from light.

Udhaiyam Green Mung Beans Whole are whole green gram with the skin on, mild and slightly earthy, and among the quickest of the whole pulses to cook. They are also the standard bean for sprouting at home, since they germinate reliably in a couple of days.

Best for

• Sprouting for salads and sundal
• Whole moong dal and pesarattu batter
• Curries, soups and stir-fries

How to cook it

Rinse and soak for four to six hours, which is enough for a bean this size. Pressure cook with three parts water to one part beans for three or four whistles for a soft dal, or two whistles if you want them to hold their shape. To sprout, soak overnight, drain thoroughly, and keep them in a covered colander or tied cloth at room temperature for a day or two, rinsing once a day until the tails show.

Pack and storage

500g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, in an airtight container.

Aachi Tandoori Chicken Masala is a classic clay-oven inspired marinade spice blend that gives chicken its unmistakeable smoky, charred red colour and flavour. Perfect for tandoor, oven or grill cooking.

• Authentic tandoori colour and smoke flavour
• Suitable for oven, grill and BBQ cooking
• Wholesale tray: 100g x 10 packs per tray

Aachi Chilli Chicken Masala is an Indo-Chinese spice blend that perfectly replicates the bold, saucy flavour of restaurant chilli chicken. Featuring soy, pepper and aromatic spices, it's ideal for the classic dry or gravy version.

• Indo-Chinese chilli chicken spice profile
• Suitable for both dry and gravy-style chilli chicken