CLICK: March Click Announcement, plus Judges Entry..

Think Metal, Think Spice -- My official "Judges" Entry for March Click Event

Shot taken with a Nikon D50 with 50mm Fixed Prime Lens in Macro Mode

Yes, folks, I am official. I am a judge!! Please don't ask me why Bee and Jai asked me to do this but I feel very privileged and honored to be part of their monthly CLICK event as one of the judges for the March Entries. I love food, fellow bloggers so send me those bribes and I am happy to taste them for you. All kidding aside, I am truly thrilled to be part of Click. I have submitted entries for almost all the previous click events and to be selected to judge is truly an honor.

You can always count on Bee and Jai to come up with innovative themes for the Click event. With March's theme of metal, I wanted to show case something metal, something personal, something related to food and something Indian. Well, that's when my handy sambara batalu (kannada word, its also known as the Traditional Indian Dabba) came to mind. My mother gave me my dabba years ago and traditionally its given in my family to the bride as she leaves home as part of her wedding kitchen set. The traditional box contains a lid, seven containers with matching spoons and an inner lid.

I have managed to misplace my inner lid and just use my dabba for daily cooking. My amma tells me that we usually put --Mustard Seeds, Urad Dhal, Cumin Seeds, Fenugreek Seeds, Coriander Seeds, Kadale Bele (Chana Dal or Bengal Gram Dhal) and Cardamom/Clove/Cinnamon Stick combo in the main seven cups and put a layer of dried red chillies in the inner lid cover. I am not a purist in most senses and have changed my box of ingredients to match my daily needs. So in my box I include Cumin Seeds, Cumin Powder, Red Chillies, Red Chilli Powder, Mustard Seeds, Urad Dhal and finally Turmeric Powder.

I am thinking of asking my mom to bring me a second dabba as I think I would like to separate the whole spices from my powders. Almost every kitchen India I have been to has one of these cute, convenient dabbas. Its great to have your most frequently used spices in one container and this way, if you are in the habit of grinding fresh spices you can only make enough to keep in your sabara batalu and redo when its over.

So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and CLICK for us! See you at the roundup! A special thank you to Bee and Jai, this was a lot of fun especially no pressure in being judged either!

Resources:

Learn how to organize your spices through this video.

A place to to buy a spice box/dabba.
Other Spice Dabba Narratives in the blogword:

• Saffron Trails
• Mahek's Kitchen
• What's for Lunch Honey?
• Mahanandi