N K Masala

N K Masala is tucked away in the Haridham Society area of Surat. If you walk by, you can usually smell the spices before you even see the shop. We spend our days grinding different peppers, turmeric, and coriander seeds. The dust from the spices can make you sneeze if you aren't careful, so we’ve learned to work quickly. It’s a local operation, mostly just a few machines and some big bags of raw ingredients sitting on pallets. We get the whole spices in bulk and then process them right here. The machines are a bit old and they make a lot of noise, but they still do the job fine. We don’t have any fancy packaging, just plain bags that we fill and seal by hand. It’s mostly people from the society and the neighboring streets who stop by. They like knowing that the powder is fresh. Sometimes the color of the chili powder varies a bit depending on the batch of peppers we get, but that’s just natural. We try to keep the place organized, though with all the bags lying around, it can look a bit cluttered. It’s a family-run kind of thing, so there’s always someone around to help out. We don't do much advertising; people just find us by word of mouth or by following the scent of garam masala in the air. It’s a simple life, working with our hands every day.