Indian

MTR Instant Vada Mix is a ready mix for making vada, the popular South Indian savoury fritter usually shaped like a small doughnut and deep-fried until crisp. The mix is based on urad dal (black gram) flour along with seasonings, so there is no need to soak and grind lentils separately.

Vada made from this mix has a crisp, golden outer layer and a soft centre, with the mildly spiced, savoury taste typical of lentil-based fritters. It is commonly served with coconut chutney and sambar.

How to use

• Mix the powder with water to form a thick, holdable batter.
• Shape small portions into rounds with a hole in the centre.
• Deep-fry in hot oil until golden brown and crisp on the outside, then drain and serve hot.

Pack size: 500g. Store in a cool, dry place.

MDH Butter Chicken Masala is a mild blend for the creamy tomato gravy of murgh makhani, built for richness rather than heat. Dried fenugreek leaf and warm spices give it the slightly bitter, buttery edge that distinguishes butter chicken from an ordinary tomato curry.

Best for

• Butter chicken with grilled or pan-fried chicken
• Paneer butter masala and makhani gravies
• Marinating chicken in yoghurt before roasting

Using it

Split it between the marinade and the gravy. Use about a teaspoon in yoghurt with ginger and garlic for half a kilo of chicken, then another two teaspoons in the tomato base once it has cooked down and been blended smooth. Add butter and cream at the end on a low flame, and keep it below a boil so the sauce stays glossy.

Pack and storage

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

Schani Jaggery Cubes (gur) — unrefined cane sugar in handy cubes, 500g. Rich, caramel-like sweetness for chai, payasam, laddoos, chikki and dal.

Store in a cool, dry place in a closed container.

Schani Green Cardamom (Elachi) — whole green pods with a sweet, floral aroma.

Best for

• Masala chai and kheer
• Biryani, pulao and korma
• Indian sweets and garam masala

Pack and storage

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

Schani Mustard Oil is a pungent, full-flavoured cooking oil widely used in North and East Indian cuisines. It gives a distinctive sharp taste to pickles, curries, fish and stir-fries. 1 litre bottle.

Schani Phool Makhana is puffed lotus seeds — light, white, popcorn-like spheres with an airy crunch and a very mild taste, in a 50g pack.

Roast in a little ghee until crisp and season with salt, pepper or chaat masala for a quick snack, or use in makhana kheer and makhana matar. Popular fasting food for Navratri and Ekadashi.

Store sealed in a dry, airtight container.

Damaged packaging – 20% off. This 10kg sack of Dildaar Extra-Long Basmati has damaged outer packaging, so we are selling it at a reduced price. Limited stock – only while it lasts.

Dildaar Extra-Long Basmati is long-grain aromatic rice chosen for grain length: the grains elongate as they cook, hold their shape, and stay loose rather than sticking.

Best for

• Biryani and pulao for large gatherings
• Everyday steamed rice with curries and dal
• Fried rice and jeera rice

Pack and storage

10kg sack. Because the outer bag is damaged, move the rice into an airtight container when it arrives and store it in a cool, dry place.

TRS Coconut Powder is finely ground desiccated coconut — dry, pale and powdery rather than the shredded flakes sold for baking. Because it is so fine it dissolves into a gravy instead of sitting on top of it.

Best for

• South Indian and Sri Lankan coconut curries
• Chutneys, masala pastes and korma
• Laddu, barfi and coconut sweets

How to cook it

For a gravy, soak two or three tablespoons in warm water or warm milk for ten minutes, then blend to a smooth paste and stir it in near the end — added dry it will stay grainy. Do not let it boil hard once in, or the sauce splits. For sweets, dry-roast briefly first to bring out the aroma.

Pack and storage

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

TRS Ragi Flour is ground finger millet — a wholegrain flour with a deep reddish-brown colour and an earthy, nutty taste quite unlike wheat. It is naturally gluten-free, so on its own it will not hold together the way wheat dough does.

Best for

• Ragi mudde, the Karnataka staple
• Ragi roti and ragi dosa
• Ragi malt and porridge
• Blending into chapati atta for a wholegrain loaf of flavour

How to cook it

For rotis, knead with hot water and work the dough while it is still warm, or mix it half and half with wheat atta so it rolls out properly. For porridge and malt, roast the flour in a dry pan for a couple of minutes first — it deepens the flavour and stops lumps forming — then whisk it into cold water before it ever meets heat.

Pack and storage

1 kg. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Udhaiyam Mixed Lentils is a blend of several dals in one pack, for the mixed dal that many households cook when no single lentil is quite what they want. Cooked together the different lentils give a dal with more body than a single-pulse one: some break down and thicken the pot while others stay whole.

Best for

• Mixed dal, panchmel-style
• Dal khichdi
• Thick lentil soups and stews

How to cook it

Rinse several times until the water runs clear and soak for at least an hour, which matters more here than with a single dal because the lentils in the mix cook at different rates and soaking evens them out. Pressure cook with three parts water to one part lentils for four or five whistles, then let the pressure drop by itself. Mash lightly against the side of the pot, adjust the consistency with hot water, and finish with a tempering of cumin, garlic, dried chilli and ghee.

Pack and storage

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

TRS Kashmiri Chilli Whole are whole dried Kashmiri chillies — short, wrinkled and deep red. They are used for the colour they give a dish rather than for heat, and are noticeably milder than ordinary dried red chillies.

Best for

• Grinding your own Kashmiri chilli powder
• Rogan josh, tandoori marinades and red masala pastes
• Vindaloo and Goan recipe pastes, and pickles

How to cook it

For a paste, tear off the stalks, shake out most of the seeds and soak the chillies in hot water for twenty minutes before grinding — that is what gives the deep red colour without the grit. For tempering, fry a whole chilli in hot oil for a few seconds until it puffs and darkens slightly. Leave the seeds in if you want more heat.

Pack and storage

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

Aachi Pepper Chicken Masala is a bold, peppery spice blend for the popular South Indian dry pepper chicken dish. Featuring whole cracked black pepper, fennel and aromatic spices, it delivers intense heat and fragrance.

• Intense black pepper-forward spice blend
• Ideal for dry-style South Indian pepper chicken
  

Aachi Paneer Tikka Masala is a smoky, tandoori-inspired spice blend for marinating and grilling paneer. It gives cottage cheese the classic charred exterior and bold flavour of restaurant paneer tikka.

• Tandoori-style marinade for paneer
• Bold grilled and charred flavour profile
  

Aachi Prawn Fry Masala is a coastal seafood spice blend designed to create perfectly marinated, pan-fried prawns with a bold, spiced crust. Ideal for both dry fry and semi-gravy prawn preparations.

• Coastal seafood spice blend for prawn dishes
• Bold chilli and pepper for crispy coating
  

Aachi Chettinad Chicken Biryani Masala brings the bold, complex flavours of Chettinad cuisine to your biryani. Made with kalpasi, marathi mokku and signature spices, it delivers an authentic South Indian flavour profile.

• Signature Chettinad spices including kalpasi
• Distinct smoky, spiced South Indian flavour
  

Schani Food Colour Red is a vivid, food-safe red dye commonly used in Indian sweets, drinks, and dishes. Ideal for creating striking colours in tandoori marinades and desserts.

Dabur Vatika Henna Hair Colour is a small sachet of henna-based hair colour powder, offering a convenient single-use pack for touching up hair colour at home. Henna is a traditional plant-based hair colouring ingredient long used across South Asia.

Once mixed and applied, the henna gives hair a natural reddish-brown tint, with the result varying depending on original hair colour and how long the paste is left on.

How to use

• Mix the powder with water (or as per the instructions on the sachet) to form a smooth paste.
• Apply evenly through the hair, leave on for the desired time, then rinse thoroughly with water.

Pack size: 10g sachet. Store in a cool, dry place.

MDH Jal Jeera Masala is a cold-drink blend rather than a cooking masala, built on roasted cumin, black salt and mint. It is sour and savoury, with a cooling finish and almost no cooking required.

Best for

• Chilled jaljeera served before a meal
• Spiced lemon water and shikanji
• Sprinkling over cut fruit, salad or curd

Using it

Stir about one and a half tablespoons into a litre of cold water with lemon juice and a little tamarind or jaggery, then let it stand for fifteen minutes before straining. Serve it very cold with chopped mint. Because it already carries salt, taste before adding any, and add sourness with lemon rather than more powder.

Pack and storage

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

MDH Pulao Masala is a gentle, fragrant blend for rice rather than a curry masala. It sits on warm whole spices of the cinnamon, clove, bay and cardamom family, so it perfumes the pot without adding real heat.

Best for

• Vegetable pulao with peas, carrot and beans
• Jeera or matar pulao served alongside a curry
• Light chicken or mutton pulao

Using it

Warm it in ghee or oil with sliced onion for about a minute before the rinsed rice goes in, so the aromatics open up. Use roughly one and a half teaspoons for two cups of raw rice feeding four. Add water at the usual ratio for your rice, season with salt, and leave the pot alone once it comes to a simmer. It is meant to be subtle, so resist doubling the quantity.

Pack and storage

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

MDH Sabji Masala is the everyday blend for dry and semi-dry vegetable dishes, built on coriander and cumin with moderate heat. It is the one you reach for when a sabzi needs rounding out rather than a specific regional character.

Best for

• Aloo gobi, bhindi and mixed vegetable sabzi
• Cabbage, beans and carrot stir-fries
• Simple potato and pea dishes

Using it

Add it once the onion and tomato have softened, with the pan still hot, and let it fry for thirty seconds before the vegetables go in. Two teaspoons is about right for 500g of vegetables serving four. For drier sabzis, sprinkle a little extra over at the end and toss, which keeps the aroma sharp. A splash of water stops it catching if the pan runs dry.

Pack and storage

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

MDH Shahi Paneer Masala is a mild, aromatic blend built for a rich cashew, tomato and cream gravy rather than a fiery curry. Warm spices such as cardamom dominate, and there is very little chilli heat.

Best for

• Shahi paneer in a creamy tomato gravy
• Malai kofta and other mild North Indian gravies
• Vegetable korma-style dishes

Using it

Bloom it briefly in ghee or oil with the onion and tomato base before any liquid goes in, which brings the cardamom forward. Around two teaspoons suits 250g of paneer serving four. Add the cream or cashew paste once the masala has cooked through, then slide the paneer in at the very end and warm it through rather than boil it, so it stays soft.

Pack and storage

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

MDH Sindhi Biryani Masala is the blend for Sindhi-style biryani, which runs hotter and noticeably more sour than the Hyderabadi version. Chilli and dried souring spices lead, with warm whole-spice aromatics sitting behind them.

Best for

• Sindhi mutton or chicken biryani with potato
• Tomato and yoghurt based meat curries
• Spiced rice layered with fried onion

Using it

Add it at the masala stage, not at the end. Fry onions until deep brown, add ginger, garlic and tomato, then stir in three to four teaspoons for half a kilo of meat and cook until the oil separates. Fold in yoghurt off the heat so it does not split, then layer with par-boiled rice and steam on a low flame. Taste before you add salt, as the blend is already well seasoned.

Pack and storage

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

MDH Tava Fry Masala is a dry-cooking blend made for food that is seared on a hot tava or shallow-fried rather than simmered in gravy. It leans tangy and hot, and is coarse enough to cling and form a crust on whatever you coat with it.

Best for

• Tava-fried fish and prawns
• Paneer and mushroom cooked dry on a griddle
• Shallow-fried potatoes, okra and aubergine

Using it

Use it as a rub rather than a stir-in. Mix about two teaspoons with a spoonful of oil, yoghurt or lemon juice into a loose paste, coat the fish, paneer or vegetables and leave them for fifteen to twenty minutes. Fry on a hot, lightly oiled tava and turn only once so the crust sets. If you are frying plain vegetables, scatter a little more over them in the last minute of cooking.

Pack and storage

Ground blend in a sealed pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.