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This collaboration began three years ago, just a month after I had started Diaspora Co., with exactly one spice - Pragati Turmeric. I have admired Tiipoi''s ability to thoughtfully and beautifully weave together Indian craft and contemporary design for as long as I''ve known about them, so I knew that whenever we were ready they would be the perfect partner to us. Today, I can proudly say that I hope this is the beginning of many collaborations to come. 

So to back up for those of you wondering... what is a masala dabba? 

When I left India at 16 for high school, one of the first things my mother packed into my suitcase was a masala dabba. I couldn''t cook to save my life and I could only roll rotis into highly irregular shapes, but my Gujju Ma wanted me to be able to feed myself and a well-stocked masala dabba is the foundation to all Indian home cooking. So, I was given a cheap stainless steel dabba bought from Mohan Metals in Mumbai packed with the seven core spices of my mostly Gujarati upbringing- turmeric, cumin, coriander, red chilli powder, salt, mustard seeds, and a little vial of hing that promptly exploded all over my suitcase. I used that masala dabba so much - no idea what I was doing, desperate to recreate familiar flavors. Over four years, homesickness, voice notes from our family cook, and my trusty masala dabba taught me to feed myself. 

Once I'd proven myself as the first enthusiastic cook to exist in nearly three generations of Marfatia-Javeri women I was gifted my Nani's engraved brass masala dabba, the family heirloom that matters most to me. It's the dabba she bought as a newlywed, a young gynaecologist starting her married life in Mumbai. She still remembers the shop where she got her new last name engraved into the side in wobbly gujarati. 

We've been in the spice business for three years now, and we finally have enough equitably sourced, regeneratively farmed, truly excellent spices to recreate that feeling of home that only a masala dabba can conjure! So here we go! And as a thank you for preordering, we''ll custom engrave it for you, a small way to honor this new family heirloom. 

This collaboration began three years ago, just a month after I had started Diaspora Co., with exactly one spice - Pragati Turmeric. I have admired Tiipoi''s ability to thoughtfully and beautifully weave together Indian craft and contemporary design for as long as I''ve known about them, so I knew that whenever we were ready they would be the perfect partner to us. Today, I can proudly say that I hope this is the beginning of many collaborations to come. 

So to back up for those of you wondering... what is a masala dabba? 

When I left India at 16 for high school, one of the first things my mother packed into my suitcase was a masala dabba. I couldn''t cook to save my life and I could only roll rotis into highly irregular shapes, but my Gujju Ma wanted me to be able to feed myself and a well-stocked masala dabba is the foundation to all Indian home cooking. So, I was given a cheap stainless steel dabba bought from Mohan Metals in Mumbai packed with the seven core spices of my mostly Gujarati upbringing- turmeric, cumin, coriander, red chilli powder, salt, mustard seeds, and a little vial of hing that promptly exploded all over my suitcase. I used that masala dabba so much - no idea what I was doing, desperate to recreate familiar flavors. Over four years, homesickness, voice notes from our family cook, and my trusty masala dabba taught me to feed myself. 

Once I'd proven myself as the first enthusiastic cook to exist in nearly three generations of Marfatia-Javeri women I was gifted my Nani's engraved brass masala dabba, the family heirloom that matters most to me. It's the dabba she bought as a newlywed, a young gynaecologist starting her married life in Mumbai. She still remembers the shop where she got her new last name engraved into the side in wobbly gujarati. 

We've been in the spice business for three years now, and we finally have enough equitably sourced, regeneratively farmed, truly excellent spices to recreate that feeling of home that only a masala dabba can conjure! So here we go! And as a thank you for preordering, we''ll custom engrave it for you, a small way to honor this new family heirloom. 

More Great Reading: 

• Sharanya Deepak''s writing on India''s food culture and history continues to be simply excellent. The first is about the Bengal Famine of 1943 titled "A 'Forgotten Holocaust' Is Missing From Indian Food Stories" and the second one is such a lovely piece about custard and it''s special journey from dessert of the British bourgeois to the democratic dessert of the people across South Asia. 
• Trishna Mohanty''s visual story of the Nupi Keithel, or Women's Market 
  in Imphal, the capital of Manipur is a beautiful look into an important site of Northeastern activism, feminism and social justice. 
• I loved this report on "The Rise of the Informed Indian Skincare Consumer" and wrote about my own experience of bringing together Ayurveda, DIY kitchen remedies and clinical skincare together for The Cut here. 
• On Palm Oil: Yewande Komolafe writes on how Western criticism of palm oil is founded upon ignorance of how colonial systems have evolved into current global trade, and it is SUCH a good read. Then, Amrita Amesur uses that foundation to dig deep into the murky backstory to India''s skyrocketing palm oil consumption. 
• Finally, the Whetstone Journal (to which a print subscription is the best holiday gift I can think of) is ON FIRE these days, with truly the most important regional Indian food stories I''ve ever seen and so much more. On decolonizing tea, on moringa, on Ulavacharu - Andhra''s most popular dish, and SO MUCH MORE. 
• Finally, in the Vittles newsletter (another great gift!), a great piece on fried roadside snacks and their role as fuel for Bengali and Goan political movements and sites of anti-colonial struggle. 

Buying: 

1. Hanahana Beauty''s Exfoliating Shea Bar - on top of every curveball this year has thrown, I refuse to be ashy as well. I buy 4 of these bars every December and use every last bit. 
2. Roy''s Chocolate Panettone like you''ve literally never had before. I''m gifting them to all the elders in my life who are spending Christmas morning without their families and could use a lil Xmas morn sweetness. 
3. If you''re in the Bay Area - Cosecha Cafe''s Christmas Tamales are an emotional experience. 
4. Boon Sauce - A LOT, A LOT OF BOON SAUCE. My entire family is obsessed, we put it on everything, I''m so grateful to Kim Pham of Omsom for introducing me. 
5. Another obsession (albeit one that like our masala dabba won''t arrive in time for Christmas but shortly thereafter) is the Tiipoi Karipot. I have never loved or enjoyed a cooking vessel more. I preordered five (yes, I know!) back in September to gift to my dearest friends, and NOW I''M SO GLAD I DID. This guide to traditional Indian cookware is also a wonderful companion to your new pot. 
6. Shop Lune and Mahnal make my favorite brass jewelry in the world.

Cooking: 

1. Alice Medrich''s BEST EVER Brownies made with our new new Anamalai Cacao and Chiddam Blanc de Mars flour grown by our amazing farmer friend Mai Nguyen!
2. Shaz of Shaz & Kik''s fame (our fave desi haircare brand!) family''s Shorshe Maach aka Bengali Mustard Fish recipe adapted by our beloved Asha Loupy to celebrate our punchy new Kandhamal Black Mustard Seeds! 
3. I''ve made Adeena Sussman''s Triple Ginger Persimmon Loaf three times now, and I love it more each time. It heavily features our upcoming most divine ginger powder that I CANNOT WAIT TO SHARE WITH YOU SOON! 
4. Farhan Momin''s iconic Smoked Ghee Cacio e Pepe with Aranya Pepper (she''s back in stock!) has been on repeat ever since it got cold and cheese is the only warmth my household seems to need.