This week we continue with Eastern flavors and fragrances by introducing ourselves to the diverse gastronomic universe of the country of spices: India. For this occasion I have visited the best Indian delicatessen shop in Budapest, Szép Kis India, which is located in the heart of the city, on Wesselényi Street. This store is truly a guard of original Indian tradition as it is managed by an Indian family. Now, this shop is really the one that a European fellow would definitely label "exotic", as Szép Kis India, with its colorful products and mouthwatering sights opens the world of Eastern cuisine to us.
Firstly, I have to state that Szép Kis India is far from little as the name would suggest, because it is not simply a delicatessen and food store but a great place to find other Indian and Eastern products like scarfs, and small objects. I would love to visit once just the shop part itself, because I'm sure it can offer a lot of interesting and useful stuff. I definitely suggest those who take interest in Indian culture to look around the shelves to find something amazing.
The deli itself is located in the basement of the shop to which leads a short staircase on the right immediately after stepping through the entrance door. After going down the stairs we arrive at the refrigerator part of the shop, where each fridge contains different sorts of goods. The first fridge on the right is the fresh spice fridge that has many odorous green herbs, aromatic veggies, and hot chili peppers. Next to that, there is a shelf full of various types of tasty roots, such as ginger, sweet potato, radish, and horseradish.
Next to that shelf we can find another with many vegetables that are rarely used in Hungarian cooking and count as very exotic in Europe. The choice may vary according to season (maybe there is a larger selection during the summer), but when I went there last week, they had different sorts of squash, baby eggplant, okra, lime, and fennel. Of course, there were ones I did not really recognize, but I am very much open to any information, so if you find something on the picture you are familiar with, do not hesitate to leave a comment!
After going through the content of the refrigerators, let's continue with the freezer. There are many frozen products in Szép Kis India; and I would like to call special attention to seafood! I think most of the fish and shrimps are within a reasonable price range, but I took a photo of the prices according to weight and type, so you can check it out yourself!
The rest of the shop is constructed of shelves. There is a spice shelf that contains different types of flavors. There are regular spices such as ground cumin or pepper, but you can also find many spice mixtures that can come very handy, like many types of curry, tikka, garam masala, jerk chicken, and other variations of seasoning. Again, this shop is not only limited to Indian flavors but has many spice types from other Eastern countries (Chinese, Thai etc.) and even some American ones, like barbecue seasoning. What I personally like here, too, are the paste-based spices because those take less time to use as a marinade and they have a whole shelf of them.
Other shelves include a noodle shelf, peas and grains shelf and sauce shelf, as well as ready-made food and sauce that you only have to heat and eat. They have various peas, lentils, quinoa, couscous, rice, and other ingredients that can be a primary protein-base of a paleo diet, but I just like to eat them because they simply taste great. On the sauce shelf you can find ingredients and sauces that are typically Indian, but also there are soy sauces, chili sauces, oils and vinegars that can become excellent ingredients for Chinese, Japanese, Mexican or even special European food. The sauces and pastes are very diverse; I even recognized some that I have never seen before, for example, I didn't know that Coleman's makes mint paste as well as mustard and horseradish sauce, so it is always an adventure to find something new that I did not taste before.
In conclusion, I really encourage everyone to visit this shop because of the wide variety of food it offers, the large selection of new plants and ingredients that we haven't discovered yet with our European stomach, and the very helpful and friendly staff they have to assist you with anything. The owners of the shop are all very kind and welcoming and the employees do their best to help you find what you are looking for. Szép Kis India is really a beautiful, and luckily not so little place where you can find everything to be able to surprise you family with some new and interesting spicy savors.
Opening Hours:
Monday-Friday: 10:00-19:00
Saturday: 10:00-16:00
Sunday: CLOSED
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