Gandhi Bazar

Any preserved food here, don’t buy. Chances are its there since months way past expiration.
I bought some refrigerated Indian deserts the other day, when I opened the box it had a foul smell and tasted like crap.

Check exp dates on all products! Today, there was a whole box of Maggie which had a date of feb 2015. When I pointed this out, I was told that is the manufactures date. I keep digging and found packets with nov 2015 dates. I asked the same gay how is that possible, I front of two other customers and he finally admitted it was expired product. When I told him its a crime to keep expired product on the shelf he said, «what can we do, that’s the product we receive». Clearly they know it’s expired product. WORST part, while I was walking out, he went to put those packets back on the shelf! Also, very similar exchange regarding ketchup.

When the HEB down the street didn’t have garam masala on hand, I made a beeline for this store! The place has all the spices you would need to make all your favorite Indian dishes. They also buy in bulk and then repackage into smaller packets if you don’t need a jumbo bag of green cardamom.
There are also plenty of premixed packets! So many to try!
They have a some produce but nothing unusual. I did pick up a couple of packets of frozen naan for snacking. You never see naan at normal grocery stores!
If you don’t want to cook from scratch, they do have some refrigerated «bases» from Curry in Hurry next door. You just add the veggies/​meat.
They do have saffron and it’s kept behind the cashier. $ 7 for a small container, not too shabby.
The shop is small but it’s clean and well organized.

Ok –ok. Minimal selection of food and groceries, not too much variety– good for a quick check– off items on the list but not worth going specially to.

Always wanted to try my hand at cooking Indian food, but not enough to invest $$$$ in a bunch of spices etc. Enter: Gandhi Bazar. My girl really likes to get curry from the all-​vegetarian Curry In Hurry next door, and the last time we went up there, we stopped at this little grocery store. Spoke to one of the staff here, explained we are noobs at cooking Indian cuisine, and he walked us through the easiest way to get what we were looking for. They have pre-​mixed spice packets to facilitate your dish of choice, and the dude showed us which brands were is favorites, and also pointed out good brands of chutney and naan. Picked up a couple of the spice mixes for a paltry couple of bucks each, and hot damn! The stuff that came out of our kitchen was seriously as good as any dish ordered from any Indian restaurant I have ever been to. Buying the pre-​mixed spice packets certainly feels like cheating, but when crib notes come out tasting this awesome, well, cutting corners is the way to go. Reasonable prices, and extremely friendly staff make this place a great place to shop.

I don’t cook Indian food, so can’t comment on spice selection or prices thereof, but I was pleased with their medium-​sized frozen section, several brands of ready-​to-​eat products and mixes ($ 2), and half-​aisle of pickle choices.
The desert selection near the door was ok, too: the two Jangiri (sweet rings, $ 2.75 for four) I ate in the car on the way home probably wiped out my hour on the treadmill earlier, and if they didn’t, the two dark-​chocolate-​covered McVitie’s ($ 4) did. It’s nice to be able to get some British items while I’m here, otherwise I’d have to go to Spec’s or Fiesta for it, which are both out of my way (yeah, heresy, I know, but I don’t buy a lot of alcohol).
After my second pass in front of the register, the cashier offered assistance, and when I commented to a customer on the universe of pickle choices (for the dal), he recommended one, so it’s not an oppressive, dim, or unfriendly atmosphere. On that note, the store is also clean and well-​lit and the stock is in good shape (stuff isn’t dusty or damaged). There’s some really trippy religious art for sale on the right as you walk in, I guess the Hindu equivalent of those colored glass Mexican candles depicting the saints.
One the end-​cap closest to the door there are freshly packaged snacks made at Curry in a Hurry next door, but since rumor has it that I’m watching my calorie intake, I didn’t partake. Nice place, prices reasonable, will go back.
Addendum: I looked at my little box of sweet rings, one of the fresh desserts. Looks like they’re shipped from Irving, made by
(nice name), which, according to the website, does vegetarian banquets and catering. I also learned what’s in it, but (mercifully) not the calorie content:
JANGIRI
Ingredients: Urad Lentil, Sugar, Water, Corn Oil.
A unique speciality of YES & YES Foods. This sweet is made in spirals, fried in oil and dipped in sugar syrup. A very special sweet for all important functions like weddings, upanayanam, etc. This sweet is also a very good dessert for all parties.

As the other reviewer said, I wasn’t very impressed by their produce but, man, was I blown away by the great spices and mixes they had. Plus, it brought me back to when I was shopping at Surya in Yonkers, NY, what with the video section at the side and everything. Cheap shoes for kids sold next to the frozen dinners, VHS tapes and a DVD section next to giant bags of coriander and turmeric spices. Great price for the turmeric, hyper expensive for the saffron, though. I bought an entire ounce in that Yonkers store for $ 35 (which is really good) and they sell the same tin here for $ 75. Ouch!
That said, they have what you need to make a real good masala but you’ll have to go elsewhere for the meat as it’s a vegetarian store. So much that next door, they have Curry In a Hurry. I think they’re owned by the same people. It’s fast vegetarian curry on the go, which was good and filling but that’s another review. If you’re in town, say, for «diner» food at the Original Pancake House and you miss their 2pm closing time (what’s with this town?), you should stop in here and get yourself some ingredients for some good Indian cuisine instead since they’re open every day until 9pm.
Good people too. I’ll be back to this place, definitely.

This place is very nice and has all the paraphernalia that an Indian store needs/​should have. I guess most of the crowd comes from the fact that they have the restaurant. According to me they still need to improve their selection of fresh vegetables