Love for Food

I spent quite a bit of time living near the Murry aka Curry Hill section of New York City. I was never anti-Indian food, but not pro either. When I thought of Indian food I would think about Diwan, the Indian restaurant in the town that I grew up in. I thought of Diwan because EVERY time you drove past the place, you could smell it. Indian food was more of a smell to me than a taste. The five years I spent in Curry Hill, I ventured out to really explore Indian food. I tired Chinese Indian, vegetarian, more traditional, to my favorite all you can eat Vatan. Anyways, enough with the rambling and on to the main idea of the post, spices. Kalustyan's is located in Curry Hill on 123 Lexington Avenue/29th Street. As a foodie, Kalustyan's is one of my favorite shops. They carry any spice you ever want. (They just expanded and opened up a double store front. YAY!) It can be almost daunting. I would go in for some chili powder, only to find out they have 50 kinds. You can choose by country, region, heat level, organic/non-organic etc. They have over 130 types of honey! The staff is not super helpful, so you should research what you need before you go. They will point you in the right direction, but not discuss the spices with you.Kalustyan's does not only have Indian spices but just about any spice you will ever need. They also have some other stuff like rice, lentils, honey, nuts, tea, and coffee. I have never went in there and not found what I was looking for. I went to a Whole Foods cooking class and the dishes needed dried lavender. I didn't even have to think I knew where to find it.On a side note, if you need some non-spice stuff, I suggest you go elsewhere. The last trip I made there I was looking for some coconut milk for the coconut curry lentil soup I was going to make. I love to buy lentils there. I don't know where else to buy red lentils for pretty cheap. The coconut milk however, was about $3.50 a can. Coconut milk is only .99 at Trader Joe's. (Spice prices are a reasonable price.) It's a NYC downfall. There are so many wonderful and specialty food stores. It could take you all day to go shopping. The stores are located all over the city and each have an item or two that you need on a long list. Sorry, just a gripe I have. It can be tough to food shop, especially without a car.If you live in New York or if you are visiting, you should check out Kalustyan's. If not you can always place orders on their website. Make sure to let me know what your unique find was and how you used it! If you love food but your too tired/lazy/busy to cook you can check out their restaurant, Curry Leaf, located down the block. (Very good food, but I did see some roaches crawling around last time I was there.)