Uthra

Uthra is a grocery label covering nuts and spices, and the two lines we carry show its practical focus: plain whole almonds and a large pack of coarsely ground black pepper. The pepper is sized for busy kitchens that season with it daily, and the almonds for households that snack on them or cook with them every week.

Uthra almonds sit in our nuts collection, part of nuts, dried fruit and seeds, and the coarse black pepper is listed under peppercorns in whole spices, since it is cracked into rough pieces instead of ground to a fine powder.

Almonds are soaked overnight and peeled for a morning handful, ground into badam milk with saffron and cardamom, slivered over kheer and biryani, or blended into a creamy korma base. Coarse black pepper gives a pepper chicken, a Chettinad masala or a Kerala pepper fry its heat and texture, and it is sprinkled over salads, eggs, raita and fruit chaat. Because the pieces are larger than a fine powder, the flavour comes through in bursts and holds up better in long cooking.

Keep almonds in a sealed jar, and in the fridge during a hot summer, so their natural oils do not turn rancid. Pepper stays pungent longest in an airtight container away from the stove. To compare, see our pepper powder and the cashew nuts collection.