Spice India & Sweets

This place is a gem! Wonderful array of quality spices, masala garam spice mix aka curry powder, and dried legumes. There are a myriad of other dry goods as well as prepared desserts in the corner! The Indian woman who most likely is the proprietor edumacated me. Although I had noticably small greyish dried garbanzos from Fred Meyer I picked up a package of hers which were cheaper, had better color and appeared obviously larger. A bonus was that a flavor packet came with the bag of beans… not like that frankenfood flavoring for US ramen noodles. Both cinnamon stick and the bark of the cinnamon tree are available. The subtle differences were explained to me. Although I had whole cardamom seeds from Oriental Grocery on Meridian (which carries fresh produce and a variety of other items not available at this place like jasmine water), I purchased the ones here because they look to be a better quality and they were very inexpensive. Bag of ginger was a deal. I learned that chai just means tea and masala is a mixture of Indian spices. So what we call chai is really masala chai. There are hundreds of quality products which may be used in a multitude of cuisines and craft cocktails. The proprietor is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. She is friendly and willing to give away her mother’s secrets. I am excited to return to replenish and expand my pantry.