Indian spice store in Mexico?

April 8, 2008 11:48 PM

Is it possible to buy Indian (from India) spices in Mexico?

Preferably Mexico City or Xalapa. Or is the only option online? I've googled with no luck and the whole Indian/indigena misnomer is driving me nuts.

posted by dhruva to food & drink (9 comments total)

Are you looking for specific spices? If you need the names in Spanish, cardamom is called cardamomo, nutmeg is nuez moscada, turmeric is cúrcuma.

You might have more success searching for Hindú instead of Indian. I know it's not a correct term but it is used commonly for Indian cuisine.

I'm pretty sure you could find most spices in the San Juan market, in the Ernesto Pugibet street, near the Alameda Central (it's a place you should visit anyway).
There's also Hansa, a naturist products store in Euler, in the Polanco neighborhood (near Liverpool Polanco, a department store). They sell cardamom there, and maybe other spices. They have yummy sandwiches too.

You could also phone ISKON Mexico, a Hare Krishna association.

All these places are in Mexico City. I made a list in Google maps, hope it works.
posted by clearlydemon at 12:57 AM on April 9, 2008

I've been able to get a pretty decent (though still lacking) selection of spices here in tiny little Colima, so I can't imagine it'd be too problematic to find the good stuff in DF. I stumbled across this article concerning Indian cuisine in El Universal, which says:

In Mexico City you can find most of the spices, as well as chick pea flour, all kinds for lentils for making dal and basmati rice, at the wonderful health food stores called Hansa.

There is one in Lomas de Chapultepec on Cerrada de Monte Líbano 16 (Tel. [phone]). Call them for the locations of their other stores. You can also try La Criolla on Julio Verne 90, Col. Polanco.

It looks like clearlydemon was right on the buzzer with Hansa. Sounds great! A search in la sección amarilla under the category of "especias y condimentos" might help you find some other likely candidates. Here, the good spice stores also sell other things like dried chillies and fruits, so if they're sold too then you might be on to something. I'm sure that there are also gourmet/gringo delis/supermarkets in DF which may well carry Indian spices (though, alas, I have no idea where they are). You might find, though, that you'll have to make up your own garam masala from scratch, but the base ingredients should be available. Oh, and you should, at least, be able to find cumin, coriander/cilantro seeds, cloves and cinnamon without much trouble in any reasonable (super)market.
posted by bunyip at 4:22 AM on April 9, 2008

You could also try calling the Tandoor or dropping by if you are close. I've eaten there and people are really nice and friendly, I don't think they'll mind if you ask, specially since you are a foreigner.

As for Xalapa: I don't know specifically about Indian restaurants, but there is this beautiful vegetarian restaurant called El manantial de las flores that is run by a family who grow everything you eat at the restaurant. They grow all sorts of things (most of them organic, I believe) and they know everything and everyone related to food, so that could be a good place to ask, and if not, it's still a great place to eat.

And just as a note, clearlydemon, Hindú is actually right, it's the gentilicio for someone from India. A lot of people get confused because they think hindu should mean "a practitioner of Hinduism", but in Spanish Hindu is the gentilicio and Hinduista is the practitioner of the religion.
posted by micayetoca at 6:52 AM on April 9, 2008

Thanks for the correction micayetoca :) I had that idea too.

Also, Liverpool and Palacio de Hierro have gourmet departments.
posted by clearlydemon at 12:21 PM on April 9, 2008

Muchas gracias! That really looks promising, and especially the hint about 'hindu', it would never have crossed my mind.
posted by dhruva at 6:07 PM on April 9, 2008

I just saw a new store that specialises in spices from southeast Asia:

Ödün
Michoacan 103-A Col. Condesa
5211 6565

I'll add it to the map I linked before.
posted by clearlydemon at 9:11 PM on April 9, 2008

clearlydemon: I forgot to mention, the map's great. I'll add to it if I discover more.
posted by dhruva at 11:04 PM on April 9, 2008

A lot of people get confused because they think hindu should mean "a practitioner of Hinduism", but in Spanish Hindu is the gentilicio and Hinduista is the practitioner of the religion.

Heh, I actually asked a question about that long back!
posted by dhruva at 11:07 PM on April 9, 2008

Also, I found a great article comparing Mexican and Indian Cuisine while searching with the term 'hindu'. Fpp.
posted by dhruva at 11:20 PM on April 9, 2008