Spice news
HarvestTurmeric Rallies As Karnataka Drought Hits Crop And Raises Fresh Supply Concerns By Kedia AdvisoryTradePatel Retail launches 23-product whole spices range under Indian ChaskaChilliChili Prices Hit Rp100,000 per Kg: What's Happening?ChilliChicago-Area Brand The Spice Drops Launches a Concentrated Chili Oil That Makes Food Spicy Without Changing the FlavorHarvestSaffron In The Cold Desert? Ladakh Is Putting 90,000 Iranian Corms To The TestMarketsUttar Pradesh Gears Up To Become Global Hub For Spice Processing & ExportsHarvestWhy 100 UP Farmers Are Growing Turmeric to Reduce Elephant Crop RaidsHarvestKashmir Squanders SaffronChilliChesapeake Chili Crisp? A DC-Area Chef Is Putting Unexpected Spins on the Condiment.HarvestRed Gold In Cold Desert: Iranian Corms Take Root As Ladakh Begins Saffron Farming Under 'Him Sarovar'HarvestTurmeric Rallies As Karnataka Drought Hits Crop And Raises Fresh Supply Concerns By Kedia AdvisoryTradePatel Retail launches 23-product whole spices range under Indian ChaskaChilliChili Prices Hit Rp100,000 per Kg: What's Happening?ChilliChicago-Area Brand The Spice Drops Launches a Concentrated Chili Oil That Makes Food Spicy Without Changing the FlavorHarvestSaffron In The Cold Desert? Ladakh Is Putting 90,000 Iranian Corms To The TestMarketsUttar Pradesh Gears Up To Become Global Hub For Spice Processing & ExportsHarvestWhy 100 UP Farmers Are Growing Turmeric to Reduce Elephant Crop RaidsHarvestKashmir Squanders SaffronChilliChesapeake Chili Crisp? A DC-Area Chef Is Putting Unexpected Spins on the Condiment.HarvestRed Gold In Cold Desert: Iranian Corms Take Root As Ladakh Begins Saffron Farming Under 'Him Sarovar'
EveryMasala

Sil batta

The flat stone slab and rolling stone used across South Asia for grinding wet and dry spice pastes.

A mortar and pestle: the oldest spice tool, for grinding and pounding pastes and blends.

Also: sil-batta, shil nora, ammikallu, grinding stone, sheel batta

Sil batta is the traditional Indian grinding stone: a flat, rough slab, the sil, and a cylindrical hand stone, the batta, rolled and pushed across it. Spices, coconut, chillies, ginger and herbs are ground into smooth pastes, as for chutneys and masalas, with a small sprinkle of water. Cooks say the slow, cool grinding does not heat the spice, so aroma is better preserved than with a mixer. In Bengal it is shil nora, in Tamil Nadu ammikallu. The surface is chiselled by a stone mason from time to time to restore the roughness. Though electric grinders have replaced it in many homes, it remains for festival foods and chutneys.

See also

Mortar and pestleWet masalaGrindingCoconut and spice

Find spices that mention Sil batta

The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven spices you may not know, what is cooking this week, and one blend explained step by step.