Badshah Masala

Our place, Badshah Masala, is located in the Annapurna Industrial estate in Ghatkopar East. We are in Gala No 32. It’s a bit funny that the address mentions Nariman Point, but we are definitely here in the industrial area. The air around our unit always smells like cumin, turmeric, and dried chilies. It’s a very strong scent that stays on your clothes long after you leave. We spend our days grinding and mixing different spices. We have a few heavy machines that do the hard work, but we still have to check the batches by hand. It’s dusty work, and we all wear masks to keep the spice dust out of our lungs. The bags of raw spices come in big jute sacks and we pile them up against the walls. We’ve been in this gala for quite a few years now. It’s a small operation. There are five of us working here. We don't have a fancy office or a showroom. If you want to buy something, you just come to the door and we get it for you. We mostly supply to local shops and small restaurants in the area. The floor is always stained with different colors from the powders. We don't use any big fancy words to describe what we do. We just make masala and try to get the blend right every time. It’s loud, it’s dusty, and it’s what we do.