Indian legumes & ingredients
In the world of shopping, there is little that will excite me as much as a purveying outing for exotic ingredients, say, like Indian cuisine, just to name one. As time passes, I continue to realize a few, new things. Shopping for overly expensive leather goods is not my bag. Appraising a selection of neck-breaking high heels makes me dizzy. Fur leaves me rather cold. Jewelry doesn’t always hold much spark. But let me loose in a well stocked exotic market and I transform into the classic “kid in a candy store.” Endless rows of neatly stacked bags of colorful ingredients in an Indian market are as alluring to me as a thousand beads. You’ll know what I mean if you’ve ever truly noticed the myriad combinations of legumes and rice offered in these fragrant food meccas, evoking far away bazaars. Kichadi rice & lentil mix, 13 mixed lentil & beans, assorted dals, cinnamon sticks, curry powders and pastes, amaranth, flour, seeds, herbs and spices, masalas, teas and nuts, chilies, sauces and much, much more – is all simply intoxicating. Experience it for yourself at one of the best Indian specialty markets in NYC: Dual Specialty Store in the East Village. All your senses will be working overtime and you will become inspired to go home and cook up some Indian fare. In case you are too busy to cook, but have suddenly become inexplicably fixated and absolutely must have Indian food, you can always eat at Chola Eclectic Indian Restaurant on East 58th for a taste of authentic regional specialties from northern and southern India. Namaste.
