Recommendations for best UK on-line Indian spices store please

Thanks,

Gordon

"Gordon MacPherson"  wrote in message 
news:h3pfak$4mt$1@frank-exchange-of-views.oucs.ox.ac.uk...
> Recommendations for best UK on-line Indian spices store please

The only show in town:

http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/

Gareth wrote:
> "Gordon MacPherson"  wrote in message 
> news:h3pfak$4mt$1@frank-exchange-of-views.oucs.ox.ac.uk...
>> Recommendations for best UK on-line Indian spices store please
> 
> The only show in town:
> 
> http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/
> 
> 

I have come to the conclusion that it is not possible to obtain the 
highest quality Indian spices in the UK.

At one time I investigated the possibility of importing them on a scale 
big enough to support a small on-line business, but found that EC 
regulations on the im[port of spices combined with Indian spice 
exporting licence system made it impossible to do so...

-- 
William Black

So I looked at the script
It was six weeks filming in the desert.
No girls,  no dialogue,  just guys with guns.
They said "Do you want wages or a percentage?"
It looked like a certain turkey.
When they came the second time I was ready.
I haven't had to work since...

Eli Wallach on his roles in
"The Magnificent Seven"
and "The Good the Bad and The Ugly

"William Black"  wrote in message 
news:h3sgk1$bms$1@news.eternal-september.org...
> Gareth wrote:
>> "Gordon MacPherson"  wrote in message 
>> news:h3pfak$4mt$1@frank-exchange-of-views.oucs.ox.ac.uk...
>>> Recommendations for best UK on-line Indian spices store please
>>
>> The only show in town:
>>
>> http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/
>>
>>
>
> I have come to the conclusion that it is not possible to obtain the 
> highest quality Indian spices in the UK.
>
> At one time I investigated the possibility of importing them on a scale 
> big enough to support a small on-line business, but found that EC 
> regulations on the im[port of spices combined with Indian spice exporting 
> licence system made it impossible to do so...

Well, true - if freshness and freshness of taste is the be all and and all 
which of course it is with dry spices. It isn't even possible in the UK to 
buy decent peppercorns.

But in terms of Indian cooking a shift has taken place to using a 
combination of dry spices and curry pastes. A brief look at supermarket 
shelves suggests that dry spices are far less popular now than all in one 
curry pastes (both ends of the market are catered for).

The cinammon, cardamom and turmeric I bought in Sri Lanka doesn't come even 
remotely close to what counts as the best you can buy in the UK. It's just a 
case of taking it on the chin and being creative with recipes: Hot Headz is 
a good place to start for an albeit limited selection of good quality 
pastes.

Gareth wrote:
> 
> 
> "William Black"  wrote in message 
> news:h3sgk1$bms$1@news.eternal-september.org...
>> Gareth wrote:
>>> "Gordon MacPherson"  wrote in 
>>> message news:h3pfak$4mt$1@frank-exchange-of-views.oucs.ox.ac.uk...
>>>> Recommendations for best UK on-line Indian spices store please
>>>
>>> The only show in town:
>>>
>>> http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I have come to the conclusion that it is not possible to obtain the 
>> highest quality Indian spices in the UK.
>>
>> At one time I investigated the possibility of importing them on a 
>> scale big enough to support a small on-line business, but found that 
>> EC regulations on the im[port of spices combined with Indian spice 
>> exporting licence system made it impossible to do so...
> 
> Well, true - if freshness and freshness of taste is the be all and and 
> all which of course it is with dry spices. It isn't even possible in the 
> UK to buy decent peppercorns.
> 
> But in terms of Indian cooking a shift has taken place to using a 
> combination of dry spices and curry pastes. A brief look at supermarket 
> shelves suggests that dry spices are far less popular now than all in 
> one curry pastes (both ends of the market are catered for).

But they don't taste nice.

> The cinammon, cardamom and turmeric I bought in Sri Lanka doesn't come 
> even remotely close to what counts as the best you can buy in the UK. 

Then you're shopping in the wrong shops.

I have a friend from Sri Lanka and she has a shop that sells spices and 
pastes.

She brings her own spices from Sri Lanka for use in her home.

> It's just a case of taking it on the chin and being creative with 
> recipes: Hot Headz is a good place to start for an albeit limited 
> selection of good quality pastes.

Nope.

I just go to India once a year to buy spices (amongst other reasons)...

-- 
William Black

So I looked at the script
It was six weeks filming in the desert.
No girls,  no dialogue,  just guys with guns.
They said "Do you want wages or a percentage?"
It looked like a certain turkey.
When they came the second time I was ready.
I haven't had to work since...

Eli Wallach on his roles in
"The Magnificent Seven"
and "The Good the Bad and The Ugly

Quoting from message <h4ddiv$pvo$1@news.eternal-september.org>
 posted on 24 Jul 2009 by William Black  I would like to add:

> I have a friend from Sri Lanka and she has a shop that sells spices and
> pastes.

Does she sell online? (I'm in N.Wales)

-- 
.ElaineJ.  Home Pages and FAQ of uk.food+drink.indian can be viewed at 
.Virtual.  http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/ejones/ufdi/index.html 
StrongArm  Under construction, FAQ, recipes, tips, booklist, links
.RISC PC.  Questions and suggestions please, email or to the newsgroup

Elaine Jones wrote:
> Quoting from message <h4ddiv$pvo$1@news.eternal-september.org>
>  posted on 24 Jul 2009 by William Black  I would like to add:
> 
>> I have a friend from Sri Lanka and she has a shop that sells spices and
>> pastes.
> 
> Does she sell online? (I'm in N.Wales)
> 

I have no idea,  but she only sells what's available in most 'Indian' shops.

I'll ask her next week when I see her.

We have a small excess at the moment,  some 'home made' (small village 
spice factor,  ground using old commune recipes) masalas (bottle and 
vindaloo) and garum masala if you're interested.

We've also got a couple of grams of Kashmiri saffron at £5 a gram plus 
postage.

The email address on this post works but doesn't get looked at very 
often,  I have written this mail to the address on your post as well so 
you'll get a return address that way if you're interested.



-- 
William Black

So I looked at the script
It was six weeks filming in the desert.
No girls,  no dialogue,  just guys with guns.
They said "Do you want wages or a percentage?"
It looked like a certain turkey.
When they came the second time I was ready.
I haven't had to work since...

Eli Wallach on his roles in
"The Magnificent Seven"
and "The Good the Bad and The Ugly

Re message <h4dfr3$bns$1@news.eternal-september.org>
 posted on 25 Jul 2009 by William Black  I would like to add:

Thanks - I've had your email and replied


-- 
.ElaineJ.  Home Pages and FAQ of uk.food+drink.indian can be viewed at 
.Virtual.  http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/ejones/ufdi/index.html 
StrongArm  Under construction, FAQ, recipes, tips, booklist, links
.RISC PC.  Questions and suggestions please, email or to the newsgroup

"William Black"  wrote in message 
news:h4ddiv$pvo$1@news.eternal-september.org...
> Gareth wrote:
>>
>>
>> "William Black"  wrote in message 
>> news:h3sgk1$bms$1@news.eternal-september.org...
>>> Gareth wrote:
>>>> "Gordon MacPherson"  wrote in message 
>>>> news:h3pfak$4mt$1@frank-exchange-of-views.oucs.ox.ac.uk...
>>>>> Recommendations for best UK on-line Indian spices store please
>>>>
>>>> The only show in town:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> I have come to the conclusion that it is not possible to obtain the 
>>> highest quality Indian spices in the UK.
>>>
>>> At one time I investigated the possibility of importing them on a scale 
>>> big enough to support a small on-line business, but found that EC 
>>> regulations on the im[port of spices combined with Indian spice 
>>> exporting licence system made it impossible to do so...
>>
>> Well, true - if freshness and freshness of taste is the be all and and 
>> all which of course it is with dry spices. It isn't even possible in the 
>> UK to buy decent peppercorns.
>>
>> But in terms of Indian cooking a shift has taken place to using a 
>> combination of dry spices and curry pastes. A brief look at supermarket 
>> shelves suggests that dry spices are far less popular now than all in one 
>> curry pastes (both ends of the market are catered for).
>
> But they don't taste nice.
>
>> The cinammon, cardamom and turmeric I bought in Sri Lanka doesn't come 
>> even remotely close to what counts as the best you can buy in the UK.
>
> Then you're shopping in the wrong shops.

Badly constructed sentences - I meant to say that the spices bought in Sri
Lanka were far superior in terms of taste to even the best that can be
bought in the UK.

But there's nothing that can be done about it. It's just the way it is.

Gareth.