Spice girl

A friend recently hosted an Indian feast, where each guest was assigned a different dish to make and bring. I needed chickpea flour (besan) for the pakoras I was making, and my local Safeway was fresh out, so I headed to India Market to check out the selection of Indian goods. Not only did it have more chickpea flour than I could ever use, but it also had a wide selection of crunchy, lip-blisteringly spicy snack mixes, plus sweets and all the Bollywood videos you could want. The biggest lures are the brilliantly priced spices in big bags and the boxes of intriguing pre-blended spice mixtures, like chaat spices, pav bhaji masala and much more. It’s a far cry from the old yellow curry powder. There were also somewhat less enticing and more puzzling items, like corned mutton and a large selection of suitcases, but nobody’s making you buy those. Besides, variety is the spice of life. 5203 Elkhorn Boulevard, (916) 338-5511.