New Delhi, Oct. 26 -- A good masala is not always the one ground into the finest powder. For dishes such as chutneys, thecha, podi and certain spice blends, a slightly coarse texture can make a noticeable difference to the final dish. Traditional stone grinding produces that texture by crushing ingredients rather than simply pulverising them at high speed. Some modern mixer grinders now offer specialised blades or dedicated coarse-grinding modes to recreate part of that experience. Here we'll be looking at four options from Bosch, Atomberg, Havells and Bajaj.

If traditional-style dry masala is the main reason you're upgrading, Bosch's TrueMixx Pro has the clearest match for that brief. Its patented Stone Pounding Technology uses a blunt ...