Kandyan Cloves

Whole cloves for cooking can be bloomed in hot oil or ghee for curries, biryanis, dals, and rice dishes, or simmered in broths, stews, mulled cider, chai, and poached fruit. You can also grind them fresh for spice blends, cookies, cakes, and gingerbread, where their warm, sweet spice really shines.

Whole cloves are one of the most versatile whole spices in the pantry. Use them to infuse flavor into curries, rice, soups, marinades, and drinks, or grind cloves for baking and spice blends as needed. Like many whole spices, cloves stay fragrant much longer than their pre-ground counterpart, so grinding them just before using gives you the brightest, most complex flavor.

Yes, whole cloves are edible, but they're incredibly potent and have a woody texture. They're most often simmered in a dish to gently infuse flavor, then removed before serving, much like a bay leaf. If you're using cloves in baking or spice blends, grinding them first ensures they distribute evenly throughout the recipe.

Whole cloves retain their essential oils and aroma far longer than pre-ground cloves, making them a better choice for freshness and flavor. Whether you're simmering them whole in a curry or grinding them fresh for cakes, cookies, or spice blends, you'll get a brighter, more layered result with far less spice.

Our farm partners have been cultivating spices using practices that go "beyond organic" for well over five years. Although they haven't obtained USDA certification yet, this is primarily because the initial certification can be costly and may lead to cycles of debt. To meet USDA standards, four years of inspections and certificates are required after the first certification. However, we consider this process redundant and unnecessary since we conduct thorough testing on every batch we procure. It's a prerequisite for Diaspora Co. to select farm partners whose soil health and agricultural practices align with our internal standards of growing food regeneratively.

Most of the spices are good 2 years from the mill date, which is listed on the harvest label sticker on the jar or bag. That being said, our spices are extremely potent and fresh as we take incredible care to source yearly and aim for quality, so 2 years is our most conservative guideline, compared to most spices in the grocery store which are often 5-10 years old upon purchase.

We do! You can search for our wholesalers using our store locator here. And if you are a wholesaler and don’t see yourself on the locator, please email wholesale@diasporaco.com and we will add you to this ASAP! Thank you!

Store them in an airtight container in a dark, dry place. Do not store spices in direct sunlight, as this will shorten their shelf life.