• Whole cloves, close up
  • A cluster of unopened clove flower buds on the branch, green shading to crimson at the tips, among the tree's glossy paired leaves
  • A hand picking a stem out of a drift of dried cloves on a scrubbed teak workbench, with sorted cloves banked into a two-handled teak tray
  • Cloves in a steel katori
  • Spices spread out to dry in the sun in the Nilgiris
1 5

Aadhimalai

Forest Laung (Clove)

Forest Laung (Clove)

₹70.00(₹1.75 per gram)
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Size
Single-originWhole spiceNo additivesTraceableCo-op packed
Clean

Single-origin whole cloves with no additives.

Reviewed by PurePicked

Clove from Aadhimalai is a single-origin whole spice — the dried flower bud harvested by farmers of the Nilgiris hills and packed with care by the indigenous women of the region's producer co-operative. Intensely aromatic and warming, cloves are a backbone of South Asian cooking, lending depth to biryanis, garam masala, chai and slow-cooked dishes. Sold whole with nothing added, they keep their essential-oil punch and distinct fragrance far better than pre-ground spice.

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₹70.00

Why We Like It

  • Whole buds, single-origin and co-op packed.
  • Whole cloves keep their essential-oil punch; spent cloves already stripped of oil get mixed into ground stock.
  • Farmer-shareholders of the co-operative are the ones paid, and the region is named.
Ingredients

Cloves (dried flower bud)

Single ingredient

Sold whole, single-origin Nilgiris. No additives.

Aadhimalai Forest Laung versus other cloves
What to comparePurepickedRegular clove
FormWhole budsOften pre-ground
Oil contentWhole retains volatile oilGround loses aroma faster, and may be spent or exhausted cloves
AdditivesNoneGround may carry fillers
SourceSingle co-op, NilgirisBlended from mixed origins in bulk trade
TraceabilityNamed biosphere and producersSource rarely traceable past the trader

Is It For You?

Good for

Whole-food cooking

Masala & chai blends

Avoid if

Anyone who wants ready-ground clove powder — these are whole buds

Cooks new to clove; it is the most overpowering spice in most Indian blends and a little goes far

Anyone who leaves whole spices in the dish — biting a clove is not a pleasant surprise

How to use
01

Add whole to biryani, pulao and stocks

02

Toast and grind into garam masala

03

Simmer in chai or mulled drinks

04

Stud into onions for slow-cooked dishes

What to look for in Cloves?
01

Buy whole where you can. Whole spice you can inspect; powder is easy to pad out with starch, husk or chalk.

02

Rub a pinch between wet palms. Colour that lifts onto skin means added dye. Metanil yellow, lead chromate and Sudan dyes are all documented in Indian spice.

03

A single-ingredient list is the whole point. Anti-caking agents and 'permitted colour' both signal processing you do not need.

04

Steam sterilisation is the clean way to reduce microbes. Irradiation and fumigation are not always declared.

05

Spent cloves, already stripped of their oil, get mixed in with whole ones. They look shrunken and float rather than sink.