The practical Japanese mortar, suribachi (すり鉢)

Suribashi, a common household item in Japanese kitchen used to grind foodstuff, was a well worth the weight on a flight back from Japan.

It's like a mortar but has dense grooves on the inner face, which make it easy and quick mill to all sorts of things. In fact, it was enough to turn a boring job interesting.

Sounds like a cliche, but it really gives result after only a minute!