Salt & Pepper: 11 Homegrown Spice Brands That Are Just Like Diaspora & Co

The Lakadong Turmeric is one of our favourite spices from Be Unfiletered's lineup of Indian spices that they source from single-origin farms. The spices are devoid of any chemicals, pesticides, or preservatives. Their current lineup of spices includes Single Origin Desert Cumin from Rajasthan to Lakhori Chilli Powder from Uttarakhand. If you are looking to switch up from your regular off-the-rack spices, this is one brand to start with. They also have Munsiyari Rajma and Chak Hao Black Rice. 

LBB Recommends: Lakhori Chilli, Lakadong Turmeric, and Desert Cumin

Kanz And Muhul (which means mortar and pestle) bring the goodness of Kashmir to your home with their collection of small-batch spices, masalas, dried fruits, and tea leaves. You have an option of picking between freshly ground spices or whole spices, and the collection of spices includes the famous Kashmiri Chilli, Roganjosh Masala, Yakhni Masala, Cinnamon, and Coriander. Not to forget, you can also pick up whole spices such as hing, black rock salt, black pepper, and Kashmiri Shahi Zeera which are black cumin seeds. It goes without saying that Kashmiri Saffron and Kashmiri Honey are also available. 

LBB Recommends: Kashmiri Chilli Powder, Roganjosh Masala, Black Cardamom   

GI Tagged is a company that sources and sells GI Tagged spices and condiments. They also sell apparel, home decor, artwork, and jewellery that are GI Tagged, but let's talk about the spices. GI Tag essentially means it's a marker used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin — Jaipur Blue Pottery or Mysore Sandalwood Soap. You can pick up the Malabar Pepper that basically started the spice trade between the Arabs and Europeans centuries ago. There's also the fiery Naga Chillis from Nagaland and Karnataka's Bydagi Chillis. 

LBB Recommends: Guntur Chillis from Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland's Naga Chillis, Kerala's Alleppy Green Cardamom  

Tons Valley Shop gets its name from the Tons River in Uttarakhand. The online store has a season spice catalogue that includes Himalayan Turmeric, Perilla Seeds, and Mountain Garlic Salt. The last one is basically Himalayan rock salt that's ground with mountain garlic by hand. You can also pick up Tons Valley Apples and Mountain Garlic during the season and they ship to most parts of the country. 

LBB Recommends: Organic Mountain Garlic Salt, Himalayan Turmeric

Conscious Food is an organic brand that amongst many offerings has a range of natural, chemical-free, and preservative-free range of whole, blend, and powder spices. Our pantry is stocked with their Himalayan Rock Salt and Sea Salt. They have all your go-to Indian spices — bay leaves to nutmeg, fenugreek seeds to saunf, and kokum to tamarind. All their products are natural and that's one of the main reasons why it's ever present in our kitchens. 

LBB Recommends: Jeera Powder, Himalayan Rock Salt, Sea Salt, Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder 

NE Origins is a marketplace for all things North East of India. They have an entire section dedicated to food where you can buy pickles to juice concentrates from Manipur to Assam. The Spices & Seasoning subsection is where we have spent a considerable time adding whole spices and powders to the cart. You can pick up Tapestree Dalle Chillis (spicy chillis common in Sikkim), Dried Naga Chillis from Produce of Naga, Saucy Joe's Sumac, Black Pepper from Hathko, and Timur (Indian Sichuan Peppercorns) from Cha. 

LBB Recommends: Naga Chillis, Cinnamon Powder, and Timur  

From the hills of North East of India, Pahari Roots has a whole range of spices, spice blends, masalas, condiments, noodles, and cooking ingredients. We're fans of their Bird's Eye Chili from Mizoram and the cinnamon powder. You can also get your hands on Lakadong Turmeric Powder, Indian Sichuan Peppercorns (ideal for chilli oils), Bay Leaves from Meghalaya, and Muri Masala which is a spice blend that's similar to a finishing or season salt. 

LBB Recommends: Bird's Eye Chilli, Lakadong Turmeric, Long Pepper  

We got ourselves a jar of their Bhiwapuri Chilli Powder, and by god, it was one of the most flavourful chilli powders we've had — spicy, earthy, and bright. Spirit Of The Tribe does a very small batch range of spices — turmeric, honey, coriander, and chilli. They work with farmers directly in sourcing the produce and offering the farms training and sustainable practices. 

LBB Recommends: Bhiwapuri Chilli Powder and Meghalaya Raw Honey 

When the brand name has the word masala in it, you'd expect spice blends, right? Masala Tokri offers just that and more. You can pick up premium and authentic masalas such as Goan Fish Curry Masala, Mumbai Pav Bhaji Masala, and Awadhi Biryani Masala. Everything you need to have a pan-India cooking masala range. You can also pick up the holy trinity of chilli-turmeric-garam masala powders. 

LBB Recommends: Sambhar Masala, Kitchen King Masala, and Pindi Chole Masala.

Praakritik has you covered when it comes to anything staples and spices. They are a certified organic and fair trade company, and you can buy spices such as whole black pepper, chilli powder, jeera powder, ajwain, saunf, and superfoods such as Himalayan pink salt, moringa powder and coconut sugar. We've their organic garam masala and tea masala. 

LBB Recommends: Himalayan Pink Salt, Moringa Powder, Chilli Powder

Forget spices, the ingredients that make up a spice, herbs, veggies and fruit is what Dryfii has powdered and dehydrated versions of. We're not kidding, think ginger powder, potato powder, curry leave powder, pineapple or tomato powder too! Mint, lemon, orange peel, Kasuri methi, white and red onion, the list goes on. These powders act as flavour enhancers, just like spices and the best part, is they're organic!

LBB Recommends: Potato Powder, Ginger Powder, and Lemon Powder