My Go-to Places for Buying Snacks and Ingredients from South Asia and Middle East

Between being born in one country to tracing my roots to 3 different countries, my cooking involves a few different cuisines. There are so many ingredients and snack I grew up eating that I don’t necessarily find everything at stores here such as Whole Foods or Trader Joes. But through various google searches and finds by strolling in the streets, nowadays I can find any ingredient I need. Here are my favourites and my most visited stores and sites for ingredients;

Kalustyan’s 
I found this store while strolling in New York last fall and I knew I had found a treasure box. From the outside, it looked like it was going to be a small deli-like store but I was genuinely shocked by how big this place is. I spent more than 2 hours browsing aisles after aisles looking at all the different things they have. They have everything from beauty to dried fruits to spices to oils, flours, beans, sauces I could go on. One look at their salt section surprised me so much because I didn’t even know there were so many kinds of salts. The best part is that they don’t restrict their stock to one particular region, they have ingredients from almost all parts of the world. It is crazy but this place is amazing.

Sahadi’s 
This is a very popular spot in Brooklyn. It is located on a street that is majorly occupied by middle eastern stores. Every time I go to Sahadi’s, it is always packed especially their extensive dried fruits and prepared food section. They mostly stock ingredients used for middle eastern cooking but they are so versatile that you can use it for anything. Think different kinds of cheese, oils, spices, bread and various sauces and dips like hummus.

Oriental Pastry & Grocery 
Across the street from Sahadi is this little gem. I like going here because of the very sweet owners and  I am supporting a small business. They have a great selection of everything middle eastern and also do catering. I usually buy Egyptian rice and Turkish cheese from them. If you have any questions or are just curious about middle eastern ingredients, the owners here would be extremely helpful.

Persian Basket 
This was one of the first online stores I discovered to find snacks and ingredients. They have a great selection of things in stock originating from various different countries but I shop here just for their Persian selection which can be hard to find elsewhere. I tend to get dried fruits, Persian bread, saffron, rose water and basmati rice from them. Also, their delivery service is very efficient.

Chandika 
I discovered this online shop while on a hunt for good quality ghee (clarified butter). I wasn’t satisfied with the ones found in the supermarket here because most of them just cook down already made butter which isn’t really the way to make ghee. Chandika has a huge collection of organic natural made supplements, spices, preserves, beauty products, oral care, oils, cleaning products, baby products, etc. Everything is made according to the Ayurvedic method and they have a very detailed explanation of the benefits of every ingredient they use. I can vouch for the mom’s ghee and their outstanding spices.

Photo of an average Friday lunch at my parent’s house.