Patel Masala

We are located in the village of Harij. It is a quiet place compared to the cities, but we stay busy here at Patel Masala. Living and working in a village means we know almost everyone who walks by. Our setup is very simple. We take the crops from around the district and turn them into spices for cooking. There is a lot of sun-drying involved in our work. We spend a lot of time outside checking the clouds. If it looks like it might rain, we have to rush to cover everything up. It is a very manual way to work. We do not use fancy computers or high-tech systems here. We use our hands and some old scales to weigh the powders. The dust from the red chillies can be strong sometimes, but our lungs are used to it by now. It is just part of the daily routine. We work out of a small building that has been here for years. It is not much to look at from the road, but inside, it is full of the smells of cumin and turmeric. Usually, we start very early in the morning before the sun gets too hot for the heavy work. By the afternoon, we are mostly done with the grinding and focus on packing the small bags for the local markets. It is a slow life in Harij, but the work feels important to us.