Shree Masale

Shree Masale is tucked away in Shop No 1 of the Raghuvijay Niwas building. We are right on Daji Ramchandra Road in the Charai area of Thane West. It is a very old neighborhood, and our shop has that same lived-in feel. We don't have big bright signs or fancy displays. Instead, we have rows of glass jars and big bags of whole spices sitting on the floor. Most of the work involves cleaning the stones out of the seeds and then grinding them into powder. It’s a dusty job, and by the end of the day, everything is covered in a thin layer of spice dust. We spend a lot of time chatting with the local ladies who come in for their monthly supply of masala. They are picky about how things are ground, and we listen to what they want. The shop is small, so it gets crowded quickly if more than three people are inside. We use a heavy stone grinder for some things because it just works better than the electric ones. Sometimes the rain leaks a little near the front door, so we have to keep the bags moved back. It’s not a perfect setup, but it’s ours. We’ve been here for years, and we know the rhythms of the street outside perfectly. It’s just a normal local shop doing things the old way.