Fennel-Flavored Toasted Spice Blend

A Hindi/Urdu word for “bucket” is balti and here it’s not a vessel for cooking. This is coined terminology that originated with an enterprising Pakistani restaurant owner in Birmingham, England, and ended up back in restaurants in India. The food is actually cooked and served in a karhai, not a bucket: a karhai is the Indian version of a wok. Wherever it came from, some of the spices used in this blend are typical in Pakistani cooking. On occasion, when I have run out o