There’s plenty you can create with this great set of kitchen tools. Spice up your Indian cooking by crushing cardamom seeds, create flavorful Asian recipes by smashing fresh peeled ginger, or intensify your Italian bread by turning fresh garlic cloves into a paste. Beyond grinding herbs and spices, you can also use your mortar and pestle to whip up amazing guacamole, curry paste, pesto, or chimichurri.

The best mortars are those with a deep round shape that keeps your ingredients from jumping or spilling out. Our 6-inch mortar with 2-cup capacity is sizeable enough for mashing small quantities of herbs and spices. Its pestle is broad with a rounded base so ingredients do not pop out from under. The mortar has a stable base that comes with a non-skid felt base to keep the granite from marking your countertop.

Get the most flavor out of your spices with this simple ancient device. By pounding and crushing the fibers of your herbs, our mortar and pestle set effectively releases the full range of essential oils, flavors, and aroma they contain. The depth of flavor that emerges in the hand-grinding process is something you won’t find if you are prepping your ingredients using a blender, electric grinder, or food processor.

Nothing makes ingredients more dynamic than the good old hand grinding from your traditional mortar and pestle. Even if you already have a food processor, your kitchen is not complete without this set. To use, fill the mortar 1/3 full only to avoid spillage and making crushing difficult. Be sure to start with the hardest ingredients to grind. If you need to grind a large number of ingredients, do so in batches.

Made of minimal-porosity granite stone, our mortar and pestle do not have a high tendency to absorb flavors and odors, making the set very easy to clean after each use. To clean, simply bring out some uncooked white rice. Grind it into powder to remove unwanted flavors from sticking to your tools. Dust the powder, and you’re done. You can also wash it with water afterwards and leave it to air dry. Try to avoid soap as much as you can.

While ancient, our mortar and pestle are tools no modern kitchen should be without. With all the exciting things one can create with this amazing set, it makes a thoughtful gift for homemakers, chefs, foodies, and those who love to prepare their food with herbs and spices. It comes in two sizes, 8-inch (5-cup) unpolished heavy granite and 6-inch (2-cup) set available in unpolished and black polished heavy granite.