Lots of hard work and dedication by staff and children from VPA, has gone into the preparation and making of our very own ‘Mrs Mahal’s Masala’ spice mix.

The Masala spice is an innovative social enterprise idea by our very own Mrs Mahal; the idea then became a reality with the help of our recently formed Spice Academy ‘Ballot Street Spice’.

The story behind Mrs Mahal’s Masala is a simple one: One day, Mrs Mahal’s mum questioned her and asked her where she would get her Masala from when she wasn’t here anymore? Her question really got Mrs Mahal thinking! She realised that her mum’s Masala was in lots of her dishes and she couldn’t imagine cooking without it. She realised that her mum and her family had passed on a wonderful and precious gift to her, which had been in their family for generations.

If Mrs Mahal hadn’t learned to make this wonderful spice, then something special would have been lost and her cooking would never be the same again! Her mum learned the special recipe from her aunty in India, now it has been passed on to her and in the future her daughters will learn the recipe too.

This is Mrs Mahal’s legacy and she wanted to share her Masala with others so that they can experience something that she does. She wanted others to get great joy from simple cooking.

Mrs Mahal’s Masala was handmade using a selection of fresh spices. the individual spices were: roasted, aired, ground together, weighed, mixed and sifted before they received a final grinding. Once the spices were prepared, they were packaged up and labelled ready for distribution.

Orders for Mrs Mahal’s Masala are currently being taken by staff in the school office and staff from Ballot Street Spice are looking into other ways where they can promote and sell the spice mixture.

Look out for details of a Twitter challenge – How far can you go with your Masala?

Ballot Street Spice want to keep Mrs Mahal’s Masala’s family legacy alive and hope you enjoy using it as much as they have!