M Z Nalam Masalas

You can find M Z Nalam Masalas at 201/30 in Thottapalayam, which is part of the Saidapet area. The first thing people notice when they walk near our place is the smell. Since we deal with masalas, the air is always thick with the scent of chili, turmeric, and cumin. It makes you sneeze if you aren't used to it, but for us, it just smells like work. We have a couple of grinding machines that make a lot of noise throughout the day. We’ve had to reinforce the floors because those machines are quite heavy and they vibrate a lot. The shop itself is quite modest. We have some wooden counters and a lot of large plastic drums where we store the bulk spices before they get weighed out into smaller packets. Saidapet is a busy place, and there’s always someone poking their head in to ask for a specific mix. We don’t use any secret formulas or anything, just the standard recipes that people around here like. It’s mostly family working here, plus a couple of local guys who help with the heavy lifting. We spend a lot of time cleaning the machines because you can’t have the flavors mixing up too much. It’s a messy, dusty job, but there is something satisfying about seeing the bright colors of the powders once they’re finished. We just keep our heads down and do the work.