Good Indian Grocery Stores?

[yoko*]

Hey just wondering if any of you know where I can find a good Indian Grocery store.

I am cooking Indian food for my mother to celebrate her birthday and
I'm looking for a few things, including spices, some good Naan and maybe some good Indian desserts if I don't have time to make the cake I was planning on. I know what main dish I'm making but my appetizers might change so I can't give you specific needs, but if you know of any good Indian grocer's, some suggestions would be awesome.

I would prefer to go somewhere in North Burnaby or closer, but I can drive anywhere.

TY

[_bRiTt]

surrey
they are all indian stores out there.

hard to suggest when I don't know what you are looking for or things in your area but i know superstore has a whole aisle of Indian stuff and so does T&T supermarket

[Big R]

never go to superstore for indian food..

go to main street...fraser..surrey.. anywhere in those areas.

[yoko*]

Yeah I thought about surrey but I was hoping for some specific grocery store suggestions.../experiences. And if there is something closer than surrey, (surrey is actually quite far from north burnaby).. that would be awesome.Thanks though guys.

I've googled and I found some grocers (and yeah, they are concentrated on main street and in surrey) but I don't know which to go to and these grocers dont seem to have websites either.

If anyone has some specific recommendations from personal experiences, that would be super-duper helpful.

[frogprincess]

Gourmet Warehouse on East Hastings @ Clark for spices.
Superior quality and low prices.
They carry a brand called Arvindas that I love to use. (Arvinda's - a fresh approach to cooking Indian)
They also carry another line of Indian spices but I am not too sure of the brand name.

[frogprincess]

PS - Try making your own naan! It's so much better fresh and hot out of the oven!

yoko, most indians will buy things in bulk. for their spices, they take cumin, coriander, curry, garlic, ginger and others and grind them together with a mortar and pestle. most indians i know make a small batch of this spice fresh every week.

as for the rest of the ingredients they use, they are simple like western cuisine. yogurt, buttermilk, flour, peas, potatos, and other basic veggies. the only thing i would try to track down is paneer, cause it is a bitch to make. remember that the dairy most indians use is full fat if not homogenized.

i have recipe for the spice mixture and i will post it in the recipe thread tomorrow.

basically, what i was trying to say is, superstore more than suffices.

[Big R]

try sabzi mandi by fraser view hall or indo fiji by 35th and victoria drive.

[prozac]

Fruticana!

There's one across the street from Central City (Surrey Place) Mall.

[yoko*]

Originally Posted by frogprincess

PS - Try making your own naan! It's so much better fresh and hot out of the oven!

Thanks for the specific recommendation for spices... do they carry more than just spices though? Like Indian desserts/pastries?

Also, my mom actually has made naan before, really good naan.. But I'm hoping to make dessert (a pear tart) and dinner so I don't think I'll have time to be making the naan too.

[yoko*]

Originally Posted by Avana

yoko, most indians will buy things in bulk. for their spices, they take cumin, coriander, curry, garlic, ginger and others and grind them together with a mortar and pestle. most indians i know make a small batch of this spice fresh every week.

as for the rest of the ingredients they use, they are simple like western cuisine. yogurt, buttermilk, flour, peas, potatos, and other basic veggies. the only thing i would try to track down is paneer, cause it is a bitch to make. remember that the dairy most indians use is full fat if not homogenized.

i have recipe for the spice mixture and i will post it in the recipe thread tomorrow.

basically, what i was trying to say is, superstore more than suffices.

Thanks! Luckily I'm using Vikram Vij's recipe book and he's written down ways to make all of these things youv'e talked about.. I think including paneer! Sounds like a great recipe book, if you're interested in the cooking. He's the guy who started the infamous Vij's restaurant and the one beside it.

[mapleleaf4ever]

Just reading this has increased my craving for a massive load of Butter Chicken by 1000%

[NinjaBoy]

There is a great one near Main and 46th, although it's name escapes me at this point.

There's about a four block area of Indian grocery stores and clothing stores there.

I was going to start this off with joke about Surrey, but after seeing how terrible the first person's reply went I've decided against it.

[azazel]

currey

er, surrey

[NinjaBoy]

Well played sir.

[frogprincess]

Originally Posted by yoko*

Thanks for the specific recommendation for spices... do they carry more than just spices though? Like Indian desserts/pastries?

Also, my mom actually has made naan before, really good naan.. But I'm hoping to make dessert (a pear tart) and dinner so I don't think I'll have time to be making the naan too.

Nope, just kitchen supplies and specialty foods.

Good luck with the whole thing!!

PS - What are you planning on making? I love the Vij's cookbook, although I have not made a whole lot from it. I do looooove the family chicken curry recipe, and have made it several times.

[esoter1c]

Thank you come again.

[harkT]

fruiticana

[KrisisID]

depending on where you are located, i can name you several places to go to. Which locality do you live in or near?

[Akeel]

Himalaya For Sweets

[yoko*]

Originally Posted by frogprincess

Nope, just kitchen supplies and specialty foods.

Good luck with the whole thing!!

PS - What are you planning on making? I love the Vij's cookbook, although I have not made a whole lot from it. I do looooove the family chicken curry recipe, and have made it several times.

I am going to make the Goat/Lamb Curry Stew (I can't remember if that was the proper title). It doesn't have a picture in the book but it sounds amazing! It has a whole lot of spices and yummy ingredients in it: tomatoes, goat/lamb leg, yogurt, cumin, cumin seeds, coriander, turmeric, whole cinnamon sticks, cloves, fresh cilantro, cayenne pepper etc...

For appetizer/veggies, I'm going to make the Brussel Sprout Cashew salad dish with paneer, brussel sprouts, cashews, red bell pepper, yogurt, etc.

--------------

And thanks for all the suggestions everyone. My mom ended up having *most* of the spices but I still need and haven't found asafoetida, black mustard seeds, and ofcourse paneer and chapati flour or naan. I guess I'll just randomly check the stores along main tomorrow.

[KrisisID]

sounds yummy.

[yoko*]

P.S. The dinner went amazing (I rock!), and I ended up going to Main street - Fruiticana for asafoetida, passed by Himalaya but ended up stopping at All Indian Sweets Restaurant for Indian sweets (THEY ARE SO GOOD) and Naan.

ty all.