My mother told me that the very first solid food I tasted was made with Indian long pepper. Could you believe that I was only 9 days old, and the Indian long pepper was one of the over 20 spices my grandmother used in making a rich thick milky dessert, called Halwa. On that very auspicious 9th day of my life, I also was named Nirmala.

Indian long pepper, sometimes called Java pepper, is native to India and Indonesia; ours comes from tribal villages in Orissa, India. These peppers, which look like catkins, are harvested green and sun-dried to become grayish-black. In North and East Africa, it's used in slow-cooked stews. This sweet, fragrant pepper has a distinctive taste of black pepper with a biting aftertaste, and Indian long pepper can be substituted for black pepper. Indian long pepper can be used in many exotic Asian dishes and clear soups and can be tossed into curries. I personally put in a few when making marinade olives.

Comes in our signature airtight tin, which measures 2-1/2 inches in diameter and 1-3/4 inches in height.