Why Al Tahoor
Because someone’s name is on it.
In the spice trade since 2005. Grinding under our own roof since 2012.
Most spice brands online buy ground spice, put a label on it, and ship it. Al Tahoor is the other kind of business: a licensed grinding unit on the Industrial Estate at Duderhama, Ganderbal, where whole spice goes in and our powder comes out.
The man behind it, Mohammad Maqbool, has been in the spice trade since 2005, and has ground under his own name since 2012. The licence is printed on every pack. If that is the kind of company you would rather buy from, the rest of this page is the detail.
Six reasons, each checkable
Not promises. Facts with pages behind them.
We grind it ourselves
Our own licensed unit at Ganderbal — machines, a grinding floor, and people who know what the spice should smell like coming out. Not a brand printed on someone else's packet.
See the five stepsA name behind it
Mohammad Maqbool has been in this trade since 2005 and has run his own unit since 2012. Seven years of knowing the business before putting his name over the door.
Read our storyKashmiri by origin, not by label
The chilli comes from the valley's own growers; every other spice from the region that does it best, bought whole so we can see what we are buying. Ground here, in Kashmir.
How we sourceNothing added for looks
No artificial colour, no filler, no anti-caking agent. The red is the chilli's own — which is also why our powder clumps a little in a damp kitchen. That is spice behaving normally.
What never goes inDated and sealed
Batch number and packing date printed on every pack, then vacuum sealed the week it is ground. You will know exactly how old your spice is, because we tell you.
Reading the packLicensed and answerable
FSSAI Lic. No. 11019110000045, printed openly. A real business at a real address, with a person who answers when something is wrong.
Where to find us
Two kinds of spice business
A maker and a reseller are different companies.
Neither is a scandal — good curators exist, and no brand is named here. But the two run differently under the label, and the differences are the ones you feel when something matters: where it was ground, whose licence covers it, and who picks up when it goes wrong. One row below goes against us, because that is the honest shape of it.
Who grinds the spice
Us —The company you are buying from, at its own unit.
A reseller —A supplier you will never be told the name of.
Whose name is on the licence
Us —Ours — one licence, printed on every pack, checkable in the public register.
A reseller —The packer's. The brand on the front may have no licence of its own.
When something is wrong
Us —You are talking to the people who made it, and the batch number tells us exactly what you have.
A reseller —The brand asks its supplier, who asks theirs.
Can the process be shown
Us —Yes — five steps, written out, with the awkward parts left in.
A reseller —Rarely. It is not theirs to show.
How wide the shelf is
Us —Narrow, and it grows slowly. A unit only sells what it can stand behind.
A reseller —Wide — a curator can list fifty products tomorrow. If range is what you want, a reseller honestly does it better.
In the interest of being believed
What we don’t claim.
We are not the cheapest packet you can find. Small batches and whole-spice buying cost more than drum-ground powder, and the price says so.
We do not put our name on other people's grinding. What we sell whole — saffron threads, kahwa leaves — is sold as exactly what it is.
We do not promise what we cannot date. If a pack cannot carry the week it was ground, it does not leave the unit.
Everything else on this page, you can check.
Questions people ask before they buy.
The process questions — reading the batch date, what never goes in, how to store it — are answered on the purity page.
- Is it really from Kashmir?
- The chilli is grown by the valley's own growers, and everything is ground at our unit on the Industrial Estate at Duderhama, Ganderbal. Spices Kashmir does not grow — turmeric, black pepper — we buy whole from the regions that do them best, and grind here. The origin line on each product says which is which.
- Who actually makes what I am buying?
- We do. Al Tahoor is a licensed manufacturer, not a reseller: whole spice comes into the unit at Ganderbal and our powder comes out, under FSSAI licence 11019110000045. Nothing is ground for us by anyone else.
- Do you ship across India, and what does it cost?
- Yes, anywhere in India, from the unit. Orders of ₹499 or more travel free; below that there is a flat ₹49 charge. Cash on delivery is available on orders up to ₹2,000. We hand your parcel to the courier within one to two working days.
- How fresh is it when it arrives?
- Spice is ground in small batches the week it is packed, and every pack carries that packing date. We dispatch within one to two working days, so what reaches you was on the grinding floor days or weeks ago — not seasons ago. The date on the back is the proof, and you should read it.
- What if my order arrives damaged?
- Photograph it before you open anything else and tell us within 7 days of delivery — the parcel is replaced or refunded in full. The same goes for a wrong item or a pack past its date. The returns page sets out the whole of it, including the one thing we cannot take back: a sealed pack that has been opened.
- Can I buy in bulk, or for a shop?
- Yes. We supply restaurants, caterers and shops from the unit at Ganderbal — the same spice in larger packs. Start from the contact page with roughly what you need each month, and a person from the house will reply.
The rest of the argument is in the packet.
Ground at the unit, dated, sealed, and sent anywhere in India.