Where To Buy The Freshest Spices In Mumbai

In early morning light, fishing boats are seen anchored at Sassoon Docks, a fishing harbor in Colaba, Mumbai, India, fish buyers standing on the pier
In early morning light, fishing boats are seen anchored at Sassoon Docks, a fishing harbor in Colaba, Mumbai, India, fish buyers standing on the pier | © Rainer Krack / Alamy Stock Photo
Sridevi Nambiar

Planning to wow your dinner guests by cooking up some lip-smacking gourmet Mughlai food but don’t know where to get your spices from? Worried that packaged supermarket spices won’t have the flavor or freshness to make your dish the culinary superstar it is meant to be? We bring you a list of the best market spots to pick up fresh spices in Mumbai.

Mirchi Galli

This historic haven for spice lovers from the city is located by Crawford Market near Jama Masjid in Kalbadevi. Featuring dried chilli powders as well as fresh chillies from around the country, this tiny lane cramped with spice stores used to be a bustling mini-market of its own with hundreds of shops selling assorted spices. Whatever remains today is still impressive. Dry chilli varieties available here include Kashmiri, Byadagi from Karnataka and Guntur from Andhra Pradesh, among others. Fresh chillies of every colour and size are also sold in bulk. Though the chillies are the highlight, you can find pretty much any other spice you want in the stores around this area.

Damji Manji

Damji Manji is located in Null Bazaar, another part of town rich in spice stores. Featuring freshly ground spices of every kind as well as their own masala mixes – particularly the mutton, chole, biryani and chicken masalas – this store has been exporting and trading spices for over half a century.

Lalbaug Spice Market

Prepare to be overwhelmed by the sheer varieties of each spice available at this spice lane, near the Lower Parel railway station. From coriander powder, turmeric and nutmeg to copra or the dried flesh of coconuts, there isn’t anything you can’t find here. You will find vendors and their families pick, sort, grind and clean spices outside their colourful bustling stores. Most stores let customers use their equipment to grind their own spices or make their own masalas by mixing. Spices are sold for wholesale rates most of the time.

Sanjeevani Masala Store

This store in Prabhadevi cleans and grinds its own spices, becoming one of the city’s best sources for fresh and flavourful spices. They even export their spices abroad, but lucky for you they are just a short walk from the Prabhadevi Temple. They also have their own spice mixes or masalas.

G W Khamkar Spice

While they launched their special Khamkar masala way back in 1937, GW Khamkar opened as a retail shop in 1983. With state-of-the art machinery and technology, they are a lot more advanced and organized than the other spice stores on this list. However their spices, unlike packaged spices sold en masse, are fresh and clean. They even have a website for anyone seeking to learn more about Indian spice varieties.

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