It all started with William’s desire to make fish curry. He got my mother to send us the recipe (that was already in his recipe book, the very first entry in fact) and we had to go to and Indian grocery store to be able to get into the fish curry project.
I was just looking for the standard issue Patel Brothers, I thought we’d find everything there. Google maps led us to a location in Queens. I didn’t know at the time, but apparently this neighborhood is called Little India.
I mean, look at this! With Merit Kabab completing the picture. It did feel very much like I was in India, and a very specific kind of marketplace in India. I’d taken to calling this the T-Nagar of New York.
Ask anybody who’s from Chennai, they’ll tell you the picture above was taken in T-Nagar.
I could have spent all day wandering this little melting pot of everything from the subcontinent, but we were here on a mission. Patel Brothers is a grocery chain that specializes in Indian food. Run by gujjus, for North Indians. Cos despite their impressive range on offer, they didn’t have simple things like idly podi. The staff didn’t even know what that was. By the way, that is your best litmus test for the quality of a grocery store in a non-Indian country. Check if they have idly and paruppu podi. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself settling for “hot mango pickle” instead of true blue avakka thokku, and be depressed for weeks.
Anyway we found most of the things we needed, and some bonus items like dry coconuts! I forgot to pick up curry leaves though. I’m going to need my own little curry leaf plant. What is a life without karuvepilai even?
The best part of the trip was yet to come. When we stepped out with heavy bags and no desire to carry them unnecessary distances, we did get lured into a store that sold samosas and jalebis, among other tempting sweets. And embarrassingly, I turned into the worst kind of desi NRI and assumed the store staff spoke Hindi. I mean, they looked and dressed very much like they were transplanted from Lucknow last week. 🤷♀️ They were actually from Bangladesh, and didn’t speak Hindi, only Bangla. Small misstep, but luckily they weren’t offended and just laughed it off.
Closing with more pictures from the trip:
Do say hello if you’re reading this! 👋 I’m making a serious attempt to connect with friends through my blog, instead of instagram and twitter.