Little India NYC

Since my India adventure a couple months ago I’ve already begun to deplete my supply of spices and chai that I hauled back. I have a very good Indian restaurant in my neighborhood, but I decided to go investigate NYC’s Little India in more detail. I’d been in the neighborhood before, but now I was an informed consumer: I know what’s authentic, what’s touristy, and what things cost in India. So on a gorgeous sunny day I spent a few hours investigating the neighborhood around Lexington and 28th Street, aka Curry Hill.

First stop: spices. I checked out a few smaller mom and pop type shops, but ended up doing my buying at Kalustyan’s. It’s large, has a good variety of spices, herbs, candied fruits, and copper utensils and cookware so I decided it could be my one-stop shop. The prices were similar to what I saw at the nearby smaller stores.

The colorful, flavorful breath freshener and digestive comes in similar colors and flavors to those I found at India, although none seemed to have coconut. At $2.99 for 4 oz, its about 3 times what I paid at the India bazaars, but still a bargain. My instant masala chai mix, with non-fat dairy already added, was $4.99, again about 3 times what I paid in India.

This price difference of 50-65% was repeated throughout my day in Little India. Prices in India are cheap: the dollar goes a long way against the rupee. But, prices were low everywhere in Little India compared to much of Manhattan.

Next stop: Lexington Saree Palace. Here you can definitely outfit your inner-Bollywood cravings. Sarees, kurtas, henna tatoos, bangles, chicken scratch shirts: it can all be found in this tiny shop. A chicken stratch shirt was about $20, but I felt it was negotiable. I didn’t even try, as I had quite a few still unworn hanging in my closet. I paid less than $10 in India.

All this shopping was making me a little hungry; from the many Indian restaurants overrunning the neighborhood I chose Chennai Garden, a southern Indian, vegetarian restaurant (btw: it’s kosher too, this is NYC after all!). Although my India travels had not reached as far as southern India, I had sampled the cuisine, and fallen in love with dosai: Indian corn or rice crepes served with a variety of accompaniments, sides, sauces and degrees of spiciness. Entering Chennai Garden I was deluged with signs boasting Zagat, NYTimes, TimeOut, Lonely Planet, and Gourmet (as well as other) reviews particularly of their lunchtime all-you-can-eat buffet for $6.99. Again, much more than in India, but a deal in NYC.

Then around the corner to Aurora’s Beads and Jewelry, featuring semi-precious stone, silver, pearls and beads. While there was nothing there I was interested in purchasing, it did show alot of similar items to those I saw in India, much of which I was not interested in either. I’m looking for finished jewelry, not design or make-it-myself, so perhaps this just isn’t my kind of place. But it was a good fit for the neighborhood and my India theme-day.

Last stop, Butaala Emporium, a large bazaar featuring traditional Indian products ranging from henna to books and magazines to jewelry to musical instruments to kitchenware to furniture…and everything in between.

the details:

Moi tip: If you go to NYC’s Little India, plan to spend at least 4 hours to get a real feel for this small, and shrinking, neighborhood. Plan to eat lunch in the neighborhood, and to browse at least the spice and saree shops, its an affordable mini-break to India. Namaste!

108