The paste of iron particles, starch, and gum from which the black patch is built.
The paste mixture — iron or iron-oxide particles, cooked starch, and gum — from which the syahi is built up layer by layer. Recipes are makers' trade secrets, varying in particle fineness and binder, and the differences are audible in sustain and pitch focus.
The word is ordinary kitchen Hindi ("spice mix"), borrowed for exactly what it suggests: a blended preparation. Once applied and polished, the masala becomes the syahi; a maker rebuilding a worn patch mixes fresh masala to match the drum.
Further reading
Rebecca Stewart, The Tabla in Perspective (PhD dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles, 1974).
