3 hours ago, Tan Can Cook said:Just an update that I was able to create another post here on eGullet on sourcing exactly where to purchase the mentioned rare spices and herbs for the USA at https://forums.egullet.org/topic/167482-sourcing-rare-spices-herbs-and-compulsory-ingredients-used-in-regional-indian-pakistani-bangladeshi-and-provincial-iranian-persian-cuisines.
@Tempest63 ji. I know you're in the UK. Will you please consider sharing your knowledge and experience of purchasing the ingredients over at the thread I aforementioned?
I want to help create a stockist here on eGullet, where people can replicate the recipes in regional Indian books published in India on a 1:1 basic with viable substitutions and minimal omission of ingredients for those of us outside of India and residing in the West.
I very rarely purchase spices etc., off the internet. I tend to visit the stores themselves and browse the shelves, usually ending up buying far more than I anticipated.
My go to shop for all things Indian is the Taj Stores https://tajstores.co.uk in London’s famous Brick Lane, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_Lane it is close to where I work and is a pleasant walk through a part of historic London.
It is looking up the links for the store just now that I found for the first time it has a mail order side to the business, you learn something new everyday.
Where I live in Essex there are two Asian grocers I tend to use. The Asian Cookshop in Braintree https://theasiancookshop.co.uk actually started life in an Indian restaurant before moving a couple of times to its current location. This was a regular place I used to acquire a lot of ingredients when I was not in London. I rarely visit now as the local parking restrictions have become too onerous to battle with. They do however have an established and thriving mail order business, not that I have ever made use of it.
The other I place I discovered relatively recently is Joe’s Market in Rainsford Road, Chelmsford. This place doesn’t appear to have a website let alone an online mail order service. I like this particular place as it has a number of other small grocers nearby where I can pick up goat and mutton, neither of which is widely available in the U.K. There is also a continental grocer close by that sells the finest vegetables and fresh herbs. Coriander (Cilantro in the U.S.) in big bunches as opposed to the small limp plastic wrapped packages you find in uk supermarkets.
As an aside I visited the Taj Stores yesterday for some whole green moong dhal and some whole black urid dhal. Whilst there I picked up a box of Shan Special Shahi Haleem Mix, a product recommended to me by some Pakistani colleagues and a real shortcut to making a great tasting Haleem. I paid £2.69 for the package in store, but out of curiosity when I got home I compared the price on Amazon UK. It was a staggering £6.10. This is another reason I tend to shop personally rather than mail order for spices etc.
