Cumin & mustard seeds
The opening act of most dishes: 20–30 seconds in hot oil before anything else. They keep 2–3 years, so a 30–60 g bowl is a long-term resident of the dabba.
Your first Indian grocery basket
Start with seven spices for a masala dabba — cumin, mustard, turmeric, coriander, chili, garam masala and hing — plus two dals and a bag of basmati. Every chart below carries the working numbers: soak times, simmer minutes, pan order and shelf life.
01
Seven bowls, 30–60 g each: two whole seeds, three ground powders, one finishing blend and one pinch spice. The box is sized so ground spices run out inside their 6–12 month window.
02
Four dals share one 30–60 minute soak and differ only on simmer time: 15–20, 15–20, 25–30 and 30–40 minutes. Chickpeas stand apart with an 8–12 hour soak and a pressure cooker.
03
Whole spices keep 2–3 years, ground spices 6–12 months and lentils 1–2 years airtight below 25 °C. The rub test — 1 tsp between the fingers — decides what gets replaced.
Fill a seven-bowl masala dabba with cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, coriander, red chili, garam masala and hing — 30–60 g of each.
A masala dabba is a round spice box with seven small bowls, and each bowl normally holds 30–60 g of spice. That capacity is a built-in shopping list: buy small bags, because a 50 g refill tops up a bowl without leaving a half-open packet to go stale in the cupboard.
The starter seven split into three working groups. Cumin and mustard seeds are whole spices — they open a dish in hot oil. Turmeric, coriander and red chili are ground spices that build the body of a sauce. Garam masala is a finishing blend, and hing is a pinch spice; both are measured in fractions of a teaspoon, not spoonfuls.
This spread matters because the groups age differently. Whole seeds keep their aroma for 2–3 years, while the ground powders fade within 6–12 months, so the dabba is refilled on two different clocks — the full breakdown is on the storage page.
The opening act of most dishes: 20–30 seconds in hot oil before anything else. They keep 2–3 years, so a 30–60 g bowl is a long-term resident of the dabba.
The body of a curry. These fade within 6–12 months, which is exactly why dabba bowls hold only 30–60 g — finish the bowl, then refill.
Added off the heat, 1–2 tsp (3–6 g) for 4 servings. It cannot stand in for the whole spices that open a dish, and as a ground blend it fades on the 6–12 month clock.
1/8–1/4 tsp per dish and no more — the line between savoury depth and a bitter pot is a quarter teaspoon.
The 15–20 minute pair after a 30–60 minute soak — the weeknight answer. Toor (25–30 min) and chana (30–40 min) wait for slower evenings.
One ratio to remember: 1.5 cups of water per 1 cup of rice, after a 20–30 minute soak, simmered 12–15 minutes.
Whole spices keep two to three years; ground spices fade in six to twelve months. Buy small, refill the dabba often.
The dish is sequenced: seeds for 20–30 seconds in hot oil, a pinch of hing, dal by the clock, garam masala off the heat.
| Staple | Soak time | Cook time | Water or heat note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masoor dal | 30–60 min | 15–20 min simmer | Fastest pot; watch it after 15 minutes |
| Moong dal | 30–60 min | 15–20 min simmer | Same window as masoor |
| Toor dal | 30–60 min | 25–30 min simmer | The mid-paced everyday dal |
| Chana dal | 30–60 min | 30–40 min simmer | Slowest; holds its shape |
| Kabuli chana | 8–12 h | 15–20 min at ~15 psi | Roughly 3–4 whistles in a stovetop cooker |
| Basmati rice | 20–30 min | 12–15 min simmer | 1.5 cups water per 1 cup rice, absorption method |
The charts rest on a small set of tested kitchen figures — soak times, simmer ranges, pressure-cooker settings and shelf-life windows — listed next to each staple rather than behind any brand.