Saffron is the most adulterated spice in the world and dry fruit is graded on things a photograph will not show you. These are the guides we would want before spending our own money — how to check what you are being sold, what the grades actually mean, and what a fair price looks like.
Kashmir grows about seven in ten of India's apples. A short guide to the varieties, the September-to-November season and how to tell a good one — from a shop that sells the valley's dry fruit, not its apples.
Kashmir grows most of India's apples and nearly all of its walnuts and cherries. Here is what the valley harvests through the year, what reaches the rest of the country, and in what form.
The same red thread is kesar in Delhi, zafran in Lucknow, kong posh in Pampore and kumkumapoo in Chennai. What the names share, where they come from, and what none of them guarantees.
Most festive dry fruit boxes are engineered to look generous and cost little. Here is what to check before buying one, whether from us or anyone else.
Two very different fruits sold under one word. What separates Ajwa from Medjool, and how to tell a fresh tray from one that has been sitting.
The bright orange dried apricot is the processed one. Here is what sulphur dioxide actually does, and why unsulphured khubani looks so much worse and tastes so much better.
The white powder on a dried fig is not mould, and the palest figs in the shop are usually the most processed. A short guide to reading anjeer properly.
Kashmir saffron carries a Geographical Indication. It certifies less than most buyers assume, and understanding the gap is the point.
Most saffron is wasted at the point of use, not the point of purchase. Blooming it properly costs nothing and roughly doubles what you get from a jar.
A gram of saffron sells for wildly different prices in India. Here is what drives the range, and the price points that should make you suspicious rather than pleased.
Two names do most of the work in the Kashmiri saffron trade, and neither is regulated. Here is what they actually describe, and what the difference is worth.
Saffron is among the most adulterated spices in the world. Here are the five checks worth running at home — and the two everyone repeats that prove nothing at all.