Do you have any recommendation for mortar and pestles?

I use my small coffee grinder to grind coriander seeds, but this would not be suitable for grinding a small amount of spices I might dry roast in a pan, such as a few cumin seeds, or want to make a small paste out of ginger and garlic.

There are m&p with a pestle with a wide base which takes up almost the entire space of the bowl of the mortar, and I've seen others that look the complete opposite - they have a thin pestle leaving alot of room for movement in the bowl.

I'd like to get a porcelain/ceramic one, which is relatively inexpensive.

I assume that it's best to stay away from a pestle made of wood, due to staining and the leaving of taste in the wood. (The I saw made of wood came from a style called a suribachi, with ridges on the inside of the bowl, and is designed for Japanese cuisine, something I do not intend to explore at the moment.)

As you know, I'm just starting out with Indian cooking, so the amount of food I am making is relatively small, so the amount of spices I'd be grinding would be small also. Perhaps the most room I would need would be for the garlic/ginger paste. I do have a very small food processor, but even that might call for a larger amount of garlic and ginger than my recipes call for!

In recipes I have read, they call for dry roasting certain spices, then grinding them before putting them into the dish. For the time being, I'm just putting whole cumin seeds in a dish. (for the toor dal, it worked fine, but sooner or later, I will need to have a finer grind).

What kind of m&p in your experience works adequately for small amounts?

I would suggest a stone mortar and pestle as it grinds better than wood or metal ones.

You can get them in indian stores or some kitchen related stores like bed bath and beyond or in some malls. Below is one kind that i would suggest for you. You may get a similar one in different sizes.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=stone+mortar+and+pestle&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

saumya - I took your advice and went to Linens'N'Things and saw a very inexpensive mortar and pestle that looked to be of very good quality - it was quite large, but of manageable size, looked to be made of a marble matter, and had an interior mortar surface that was slightly rough. Made in Taiwan, cost under $8. The mortar sits on a small base. I could see using such a kitchen tool for perhaps making small amounts of a ginger and/or ginger/garlic paste.

Can such a took be used to make such a paste instead of using a small food processor? I don't need to make a larger quantity of such a paste at this point in my learning stage, but just to mash a few garlic cloves and a small amount of ginger with water in such a tool might work.

Only drawback to this tool it that it is very heavy! Maybe that's a good sign!

saumya - I took your advice and went to Linens'N'Things and saw a very inexpensive mortar and pestle that looked to be of very good quality - it was quite large, but of manageable size, looked to be made of a marble matter, and had an interior mortar surface that was slightly rough. Made in Taiwan, cost under $8. The mortar sits on a small base. I could see using such a kitchen tool for perhaps making small amounts of a ginger and/or ginger/garlic paste.

Can such a took be used to make such a paste instead of using a small food processor? I don't need to make a larger quantity of such a paste at this point in my learning stage, but just to mash a few garlic cloves and a small amount of ginger with water in such a tool might work.

Only drawback to this tool it that it is very heavy! Maybe that's a good sign!

Heavy is Good! but if you are trying to make ginger garlic paste in the mortar it might be time consuming. It depends upon the amt though. I usually grind it in a normal electric grinder and store it for a month or so. I use the mortar if i need to grind just a couple of garlic cloves or a tea spoon of masala etc.