Bhaarat Groceries

There’s something a little sad about this place, with its empty shelves and limited selection. It seems to be hanging on for dear life, with few customers and even fewer fresh vegetables. The windows, walls, and door are literally papered over with announcements and advertisements — for everything from international calling cards to dances and concerts that took place long ago. Its surfaces are dusty and maybe even dirty, as if this were an outdoor market, which it certainly is not.
But alas, there isn’t a whole lot to choose from in this part of town, and Bhaarat generally does the job. If you need idli powder, they have it. Tamarind paste? Check. Today, I found myself in desperate need of hing … as one sometimes does. They had enough to meet my needs. A little bit goes a long way, you know.
So yeah, who am I to complain if the shelves are sometimes empty and the presentation, a little rough? Heck, that just ads to the authenticity of the experience. The dude who runs the place is pleasant enough, and today he even had some encouraging words for my recent dosa difficulties. «With time, it will come. You can be sure of that.»
Thanks, Bhaarat.

our go-​to place for a special coriander sauce. this grocery store is very over-​looked, and a good place to go for unique Indian ingredients and food that you can’t find anywhere else.

Small scale indian grocery store. Good if you run out of stuff and want to buy in small quantity. For buying in bulk Om plaza/​Patel Bros on Lafayette street is cheaper.

Unilocaler Betsy’s got it right — buy bulk spices here & save a bundle! Check the back wall for very fresh bins of gingers: galangal, fingerroot, turmeric.
For a shortcut cook like me, I highly recommend the Shaw seasoning boxes — our favorites include Butter Chicken and Dopiazi. Butter Chicken is a great way to ease midwestern palates into the excellence of Indian flavors. Handy frozen meals, too.
Tetley tea is here! Great frozen naan and be sure to browse the snack aisle for unique chips and biscuits (tea cookies). Looking for henna for body art? Don’t use the henna in the body care aisle — that’s just for hair. Premixed henna tubes are located at the front counter when it’s available.
Check for fresh samosas at the register before you leave. Buy a few for a quick snack or a big bag for lunch/​dinner. Homemade and delicious — we love all the flavors, but the vegetarian’s our favorite. They’re so good it’s worth stopping in just to have a bag for snacking while running errands — beats drive-​thru hands down!

We consider this our neighborhood Indian grocery store and we love going here to get ingredients for our curries and kormas.
I am new to the art of actually making Indian dishes from scratch, but this little store has had everything I’ve needed so far. The owners are very friendly and have given good advice about using items that were new to me. For example, letting me know that the ginormous bag of dried red chiles I bought on my first foray would probably last a lifetime. «Be careful!» admonished the owner with a huge grin and slight chuckle. Right on target he was, I’d say. I used two of these beauties in a fairly large pot of vegetable korma, removed them after cooking, and we still had to gulp spoonfuls of raita to survive dinner!
Buying spices in a specialty shop such as Bhaarat can be so much more cost effective than buying those little jars at the supermarket — and it may just be me, but I think they taste better. One cool thing to do is visit World Market — just a bit farther east on 116^th in Merchant’s Square — and purchase an Indian style spice storage container with mini-​spoon for all your ground spices from Bhaarat.
Two recommendations, apart from the obvious spices and staples you can get here: the pre-​cooked and frozen gulab jamun and the Pillsbury frozen naan that is stuffed with paneer (a mild Indian cheese). I don’t know how to make either of these by hand yet and I must say the bread especially is really tasty and easy to prepare from the freezer — nice and spicy, too!