The other day I was in the Indian grocery store and as I was rounding the corner into the aisle with spices of all colors and sizes stacked higher than I can even reach, I realized that shopping for new spices is my favorite part of going grocery shopping. My pantry and spice cabinet are so well stocked that I can pull out almost any new recipe and I’ll have every spice that’s needed. That’s an exciting feeling for me. I feel like a real cook now.
My spice collection took on a life of it’s own only recently. For about six years all I had was the five or six basic spices I used on a daily or weekly basis which all fit in my lovely Indian style spice box (masala dabba in Hindi). Now, not only is my masala dabba full but I also have an entire three-tired cabinet devoted to spices The more and more bags of spices I got the messier they became for storage and the harder it became to find something I wanted. So I set out to find a system of organization for all my spices.
Once I got home I decided to admire my spice collection and thought it would be fun to share it with you all. Once I got started it turned into a complete kitchen tour including my make-shift pantry (which is actually supposed to be the bedroom linen closet), as well as inspired the new section of the blog The Indian Spice Cabinet.
Here is a picture of our kitchen from the real-estate listing brochure. The fact that it’s an open kitchen and a highly functional triangle was a huge selling point for Hubby and me. It’s still a small kitchen but since it opens to the living and dining room it feels much bigger than our previous kitchen which was a narrow galley kitchen, closed off to the living room.
Since we have moved in it’s gone through a number of different setups. I’ve tried the Julia Child inspired kitchen where all my tools are out on display and within easy reach. I loved the functionality but it always felt like a mess. I since learned that I like things tucked away but organized so I don’t have to dig around. The newest arrangement has most of the utensils and food stored out of sight. Although I keep the frequently used appliances in a neat set up on the counter.
Here is my main spice cabinet. The red-topped containers were my original collection which Hubby beautifully labeled for me. As the collection has grown I picked up the clear boxes at my local restaurant supply store and used small stick-on labels from office depot.
Then I have my more unorganized cabinet of cooking oils like coconut oil, mustard oil and my all-time favorite ghee. I got the fried onions (top shelf on the right) for a dish of rice that was garnished with the fried onions. I haven’t used them since. I use the corn starch to thicken my cream sauces.
You might notice the neat lines of bins on the bottom shelf. This is my collection of all the lentils and beans we like to eat. Let’s take a closer look…
Starting from the left we have red lentils (Masoor Daal), green lentils (Mung Daal), split chickpeas (Chana Daal), then we have dried garbanzo beans, also called chickpeas (chana), whole black gram sometimes referred to as black gram (Whole Urad Daal) and finally a container of freshly ground garam masala (a famous general spice used in almost every Indian dish) that we get replenished on our annual trip to Bombay. Hopefully soon I’ll find a great recipe for making my own garam masala at home but I have yet to find one that tastes right.
For the rest of the spices and dry ingredients we need to go around the corner to what is actually our bedroom linen closet that has been taken over for kitchen storage. This is the messiest cabinet as most of the stuff here is less stackable. Most of the bakeware on the top left belongs to my mother. It’s on a long-term loan and then I have my grandmother’s juicer that I have yet to use. On the bottom shelf I have a professional cake stand which I just love. I have a bulk bag of chocolate chips from Smart & Final. The clear plastic bin (courtesy of salad mix from Costco) holds all my seldom used spices or any leftover spices that didn’t fit into their containers in the kitchen. The wire basket holds all baking supplies. I transfer most things I get into sandwich bags or bigger clear Ziploc bags and label them so they can be kept air tight after being opened.
Let’s tour the rest of the kitchen while we are at it!
This is the chapati station where I keep my stand mixer and warming bowl on the counter. In the nearby drawer I keep my chapati rolling pin and board (I also keep the larger rolling pin for bigger dough projects) as well as my container of extra chapati flour for rolling out the dough and a towel for making the chapatis puff up.
In the cabinet below I keep a large bin of chapati flour on hand (behind which I store extra bags of bread flour and all-purpose flour).
At my stove I keep two small bowls of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. On the other side of the stove I keep a dispenser of olive oil (in a beautiful hand painted jar from my mother) and a container of Indian tea that is always within easy reach!
That’s about the entirety of my lovely kitchen laboratory. It’s small but mighty and I continue to be inspired in this little room every day.
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Hi! My name is Colleen
Hi there! I'm Colleen. I'm a girl from sunny Santa Cruz, California who married a Punjabi boy from Bombay. These are the stories, recipes and photos of our adventures together as I've learned about, and fallen in love with, Indian culture...as well as taught Hubby a thing or two about my American ways of doing things. Pull up a chair and enjoy!
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Hi Colleen, I felt like a Voyeur, but it was wonderful going through your kitchen and pantry – Love the labeled and neatly arranged tupperware boxes – wish you many happy adventures in your lovely kitchen:) When you feel in need of simple, quick but delicious meals, please do stop by my blog and do inspire me by following
cheers, priya
Hi Priya – Thanks for dropping by, I’ll be sure to visit your page. Thanks for sharing.
hi collen I am really impressed by the way you have arranged the Indian spices and pulses.Good show!
Hi Coleen,
Wonderful organization! Where did you get the big boxes with the blue lids for the lentils? I have been looking for something like them all along!
Hi Anu – the boxes are snap-top boxes from Target or Costco. Target sells them individually. They are great, but they do take up a lot of room.
Hi Colleen…this is my first visit to your blog but I am very amazed. It was a nice experience and I would like to visit in future….
Thanks Arthy!
Hi Colleen,
You have a wonderful space here. Please do visit our blog too and maybe we can inspire each other.
Gomathi and Aparna (Square Meals)
Square Meals – your blog is wonderful and I can’t wait to try some of your recipes when I’m back home. I love that two friends are blogging together. I hope one day the restaurant plans work out!
This is my first visit here and I am loving all the posts. They are giving me a feel of home although I stay thousands of miles away.
Vardhini
Hi Vardhini – welcome to the blog. Thank you for the lovely comment!
I came across your blog today while blog hopping! you have a lovely blog here. It reminds me of my sis-in-law (cousin’s wife actually). She is an American too and loves everything Indian!
Hi Mittu – welcome to the blog, I’m so glad you enjoyed! Thanks for sharing about your sister. I love to hear about others.
Just visited your blog. And loved everything about it. Glad you like India and its culture. You have a beautifully organized kitchen!
Hi Divya, it’s great to have you and I’m glad you are enjoying the blog
hope to see you on the comments again soon. 
First time in your blog, you have a lovely blog, with lot of photos from India, glad you like India, and amazed how you have blended so well with the family.., it was a great tour on all your photos, your kitchen is absolutely fabulous with all those labelled tupperware, loved your kitchen and mummyji’s kitchen too…, I blog too.., do visit me when you have time..
Hi Jayasri ~ Thank you so much and welcome to the blog. I’ll gladly poke around your blog, thank you for passing it along
Hi Colleen,
This is the first time I came across your beautiful blog and I must say I am too impressed and inspired. I have recently started blogging about my recipes. Loved your likeness towards Indian cooking, food and culture. In India, relationship, family traditions, cultures and values are very important and taken very seriously. Happy to see you mixing up so well. Your hubby is very lucky to have you in life. Loving your every post so much, going through them now. Please do visit my blog too and will love and lucky to have you there and for your guidance and suggestions too….
Take care….bye
Gouri
Hi Gouri – Thank you for such kind words! Reading your comment made my day. I just went over to your blog and it’s beautiful. How can you have just started and yet have so many recipes up already! You’re one to keep up with!
Hi there Colleen,
Way to go girl, you really know how to live it up! 
I bumped into your page from the Indian Women Food Bloggers page. After reading about you, I was glued here for the last half hour or so. Lovely to see so much interest in Indian cooking and culture. I loved reading about your adventurous first trip to India and how you adored watching your mummyji cook!
Thanks so much Nandita
and welcome!