This granite grinder (known as batu giling in Baba Malay) is used in Peranakan cooking to prepare spices and pastes. It is thought to have come from India. Peranakan cuisine is a blend of borrowed culinary influences, from Chinese, Malay, Javanese to Indian and European. This grinder was an essential element in the preparation of Peranakan food. Peranakans were also superstitious and believed that grinders had to be stored together with other similar devices to ensure unity in the household.
