Buying Indian spices in Russia has long ceased to be a problem for people who are fond of national cuisine. Real spices can be ordered from online stores, bought in regular stores, or found in large hypermarkets.
Hypermarkets and conventional stores in Russia
The easiest way to buy real Indian spices in Russia is to carefully examine the shelves of the nearest large hypermarket. Spices such as cloves, coarse chili peppers, ginger, cumin, coriander or nutmeg can be found in almost all stores in convenient paper packaging or in glass mills.
As a rule, despite the fact that the spices are packaged in Russia or the CIS countries, they are grown in Southeast Asia (Thailand, India or Vietnam). The most common Indian spice - cinnamon - is generally found in all grocery stores in Russia in ground or pod form, as well as black pepper.
Specialized places
Specialty places can be considered national Indian, as well as esoteric and spice shops.
In large cities (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Novosibirsk, etc.), several Indian shops are open. Typically, they contain a variety of products, including Indian spices such as curry powder (yellow or red), spice mixes, and masala chai. Also in such stores it is worth buying dried herbs (galangan, lemongrass for teas, ajwan) and seeds of caraway, pomegranate and fennel used for cooking Indian dishes.
As a rule, such places have their own sites on the Internet, where you can place an order in advance and then come for a ready-made set. Residents of small towns will also find it more convenient to order Indian spices online (when ordering, it is better to order fast delivery, since spices can lose their aroma within a fairly quick time).
In addition, a small amount of Indian spices can be found in esoteric stores that are open in almost all cities of Russia (in such places you can find mixtures of spices) and in coffee and tea stores, where nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon and other spices are very often presented. used when brewing coffee. If you wish, you can find Indian spices in the Hare Krishna religious organizations of almost every city (moreover, you can buy them there several times cheaper than the store price).
Online shopping
You can buy Indian spices on the Internet both in specialized stores and from private sellers.
The most budget-friendly way to buy Indian spices with home delivery or the nearest post office is Chinese and Indian online stores that work with overseas customers (sites are often in English or even Russian). Also, real Indian spices can be bought from the Russian-speaking population of India, engaged in the forwarding of various national goods (to prevent fraud, you should carefully check the reviews of the potential seller).
