How Our Spice Tins Found Their Place in the Decolonisation Conversation

We’ve always believed spices tell stories. Now, we’re helping cultural institutions tell more honest ones too.

When Mum and I first set up Spice Kitchen, we talked a lot about wanting to honour our ancestors: to make them proud, and from the very beginning we hoped our products would reflect more than just flavour.

Spices carry history, memory, and story. Mum often talks about seeing chillies drying on the rooftops of houses back home in India, and how she learned everything about blending, grinding, and toasting spices from her mum and aunties. She brought that knowledge with her when she came to the UK, and it shaped everything about how she cooked and raised us.

At the heart of spice kitchen is our treasured, 100-year-old spice grinder, which mum rescued from being thrown away. Bringing it to the UK, she began to make spice blends for herself and family members. The very same blends that went on to inspire what we sell at Spice Kitchen and that you may have in your kitchen. 

I was born and raised in Birmingham, and for me, spices were simply part of everyday life. They weren’t ‘exotic’ or complicated - they were just… there. A constant. And that’s something I’ve come to realise is quite a unique position to be in. Not everyone has had that kind of cultural inheritance or depth of knowledge passed down through generations.

I know for a lot of people, especially here in the UK, spices can feel a bit inaccessible. Intimidating, even. So, a big part of what I’ve tried to do through Spice Kitchen - and through my first cookbook - is to be that friendly, introductory voice for people who want to cook with spices but don’t know where to start. I wanted to take everything I’ve learned from Mum and make it relevant to modern families who don’t have a lot of time but still want to eat well.

That’s why I focus on blends rather than single spices - even though that’s not how Mum cooks - because it makes it easy, and easy is what gets people cooking. For us, it’s more than commerce. It’s about helping these institutions bring a more honest and layered narrative to their visitors, one that acknowledges empire, migration, and the deep connections between food, trade, and identity.

This is also why we’re so proud to be playing a small but meaningful role in the ongoing work to decolonise museum and heritage spaces in the UK. We supply ethically sourced spices and sari-wrapped tins to some of the country’s most respected cultural institutions, places like National Portrait Gallery and Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, helping them create thoughtful, relevant products that reflect the exhibitions and histories they share with the public. 

As a family business rooted in both British and Indian heritage, this work feels like a full-circle moment. We get to share our story in ways that speak to heritage and history, but also to the modern kitchen. Each tin on a museum shelf is more than a beautiful product; it’s a conversation starter. It’s a way of honouring the past while reimagining how stories are told today.