spices, spices, spices

those of you who cook many different cuisines regularly must have a huge collection of spices like i do. i’m having such a hard time organising them neatly. in new york, i used a combo of a spice rack and old pickle and jam jars but i’d like a prettier solution in london. thus far i haven’t been able to find any. all the spice jars that i’ve seen so far come fully stocked – i guess i should look online and order something from the net. maybe i haven’t found the right cooking shops in this city. i miss the container store!!

my 18 jar spice rack in the picture is what i brought along from new york. it has assorted spices for mostly non-indian food. i have sage, tarragon, oregano, nutmeg, ginger, thyme, parsley, dilweed, basil, cilantro, fennel, curry leaves, kesoori methi, lemon grass, mexican seasoning, chinese five spice and vanilla beans.

i’ve loaded my indian spice box with new spices i just bought from a fabulous indian grocery store on drummond street. you see methi (fenugreek), jeera (cumin), black mustard seeds, turmeric, chillie powder and salt. i haven’t made up my mind as yet on what to put in the last available container – maybe garam masala. or coriander seeds. or sambhar powder. i still have 15 odd spice packets lying around waiting for a home. among the destitutes are anardhana powder, white pepper powder, black peppercorns, garam masala, kalonji, shah jeera, kashmiri chilli powder and anardhana seeds to name a few. which of these do you think most most deserves a place in my indian spice box?