The pestle is the pointy bit.
The pestle is the pointy bit.
The mortar and pestle.
I could not be without this piece of equipment. Thing is, spices don’t last very long when ground so the only way to get the true taste from the spices is to buy and store them whole grind them fresh. Toast them briefly on a dry pan, then the grinding is easy.
Pepper – most of my egg recipes, and not a few of my spicy savouries, call for a quantity of pepper that is too much to get out your average pepper mill (you do grind your own pepper, don’t you?).
Mustard – make your own coarse mustard, grind up yellow or black mustard seed until you have a good amount of powder, mix with a little sugar and vinegar – et voilà, moutarde à la Dijonoise.
Pound garlic cloves with salt to get the juices out.
The list could go on and on.
Making spicey Indian food is a wonderful ritual, grind each spice individually and place the piles round a plate as you go.
Avoid cheap mortars, the traditional white porcelain ones are good but you’ll want the biggest you can. I find this heavy Indian brass mortar is perfect for me. I found it at a jumble sale years ago for £2 and i count it amongst my most treasured possessions.
Tags: Dijon mustard, grinding, mortar and pestle, pepper, spices