Inner Spice

Seven years ago, I landed on this coast for the first time🇰🇪

Back then, I was weighed down by so much corporate baggage that I can barely picture that version of myself now🧡

✈️This time, I’m not visiting. I’m going home - to the place that raised my husband.

⛵️He’s Indian-Kenyan, and his parents still live in Mombasa (the oldest city in Kenya) where the spices in their kitchen moved along the same old trade routes that carried mine - cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, drifting along this coast for centuries.

🌏Two diasporas, two coastlines, and the vast Indian Ocean with its monsoon winds that connected them.

Back then, I didn’t really see any of it.

✨This time, I’m arriving as someone who’s spent years thinking about this - how a kitchen holds generations and how “home” isn’t always the place you were born.

I’ll be writing more of my thoughts and cultural musings from Mombasa over the next few weeks🧡

💬What’s made a place feel like yours - even when you weren’t born there?👇🏽

The smell of my Mum’s kitchen, whether it was mustard seeds crackling in hot ghee, or spices being sprinkled from her masala dabba into a variety of dishes - the aroma felt like home to me💫

Outside however, it was something people pointed at.

✨I remember holding a thermos of spiced milky tea once, twisting the lid slowly, hoping the smell wouldn’t travel too far. What was inside was essentially a ‘chai latte.’ A café staple now - but back then, I didn’t want anyone to see, or smell, it.

🧡It’s strange how something can move from embarrassment to trend in one generation.

🌏Behind every ingredient that becomes a ‘thing’ - there’s usually a story, and a person, who carried it long before it was considered desirable.

👉🏽Swipe through, and if any of this resonates, I’d love to hear your food memory in the comments below💬

In my house, chai wasn’t a drink. It was a diagnosis💫

Bad day? Chai☕️
Argument you couldn’t resolve? Chai☕️
In need of a good chat? Still chai☕️

Without needing any explanation, my Mum would fill the pan, sprinkle in the spices, and brew…✨

✈️Even when I head back home now - and before my bags are unpacked - the ‘cha’ (as we also refer to it in Punjabi) is simmering, and it brings me so much comfort and joy😍

🌎Across current trends, there’s a lot of talk about rituals - slow mornings, self-care, intentional living, but the ritual was always there for me growing-up. It just didn’t need to be fashionable 🧡

Who do you always ‘spill the chai’ with? 💬Tell me in the comments - or send this to someone that always has the chai pot on🫖

When I look at my Mum’s story, I’m still in awe -
of her strength, her tenacity, her calmness, and unwavering commitment🧡

At 21, she entered an arranged marriage with my Dad without ever meeting him beforehand💫

No photos, no long conversations, no real idea of what life would look like together.

🇮🇳Then not long after, she left India and moved to England - away from her family, everything familiar, and the life she’d always known✈️

🇬🇧My Dad was working long hours, so she spent time figuring things out alone. And this was the seventies, when racism was rife.

🙏🏽A new culture. Different food. Different language. And a different way of life.

Even using an oven and novel kitchen gadgets were unfamiliar to her at the time!

✨I think for a long time she saw it as her “duty.”

🔥But when I look at it now, I see courage and an unbelievable ability to adapt.

She’s still the one who keeps our whole family together. The one everyone turns to for support, warmth, food, and comfort🧡

And although my Dad likes to think he’s the head of the family, we all know who’s really running the show😉

💬This Mother’s Day, who’s the woman that shaped your world? Comment and share your story below.

Most Mother’s Day gifts get used once…then forgotten😕

🧡If you’ve ever given a gift that ends up sitting on a shelf, you’ll know the feeling🙄

So here’s a better way to think about it:

✨For the mum who loves hosting
→ Seasonal Spice blends to elevate any social gathering🔥

✨ For the curious cook
→ The Everyday Spice Collection Box (for variety + ease)

✨ For slow, quiet rituals
→ Infusion jar + muslin spice pack for daily habits

These aren’t just gifts.

🎁They’re something she’ll come back to - again and again.

👉🏽If you’re still looking for Mother’s Day gift ideas that feel thoughtful and practical, this is your sign!

🛒Order online
📍 Or if you’re in Perth 👉🏼 last-minute pickup available (DM me for details)

🛍️Tap to shop 🔗or send me a DM to organise pickup before Mother’s Day this Sunday!