Rochester is full of vibrant, immigrant-run businesses that specialize in products and services catered to myriad cultures in the city. For many Indian immigrants, Desi (a term used to describe the Indian subcontinent and their diaspora), grocery stores offer a slice of home. A place where they can speak their native language and find everything from methi parantha (flatbread with fenugreek leaves) to red avial poha (flattened rice flakes). Rows of shelves are lined with prayer garb, garlands and attar (fragrant essential oils).
In a city with a thriving food scene, it can be tempting to go out every night, but specialty grocery stores offer what restaurants cannot. Packaged snacks give a glimpse into life outside of the United States (on a budget). Staple ingredients and hidden treasures rotate seasonally. Store attendants have recipes passed down to them through generations.
The South Asian community recently celebrated Onam, Navaratri and Diwali; but Desi festivals span the entire year, giving many reasons (and treats) to celebrate. Chandni Sud runs Spice Bazaar, 364 Jefferson Rd., with her husband, Tharushan Thavakumar, but it was her father who opened the business.
“My dad immigrated here in the 80s, and his older brother gave him some money to either go to school or start a business,” said Sud. “At that point, there was very little diversity in Rochester. Not that there weren’t many South Asians in the city — we just didn’t have a community. So, he opened the first Indian grocery store in the city.”
Sud’s family is from Punjab in North India, and her husband’s family is from Jaffna in Northern Sri Lanka, so they try to serve the entire South Asian community. Spice Bazaar itself remains very much a family business; the couple’s children are often in the store, an aunt and uncle run cash registers, a cousin stocks shelves.
“Our parents worked really hard to ensure we didn’t lose our culture,” said Thavakumar. “We struggled being some of the only ‘minorities’ in school. It is great to see how much Rochester continues to grow.”
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Some of their shoppers are students from the expanded international programs at Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester; others are curious cooks or adventurous eaters.
“Beyond the South Asian community, no one wanted to try out Indian food, but in the last decade or so this has changed,” said Sud. “We get people from all over. Many Americans come asking about ingredients such as turmeric to learn about its health benefits. For people who want easy food, our ready-to-eat meals are especially popular.”
In addition to takeout and dried goods, the store has everything from henna kits and stencils for rangoli to Rooh Afza, a rose-flavored syrupy drink devoured during Eid, and Kesari Thandai, known for its cooling effect and intoxicating sweetness during Holi. Spice Bazaar also orders fresh sweets from New York City vendors on a weekly basis.
“Since I grew up in a family with a restaurant and grocery business, festival foods were available to me year-round. The most special thing about a celebration are the sweets,” said Sud as she assembled a to-go box with a selection of favorites: badaam barfi (almond fudge), cham cham (sweetened milk balls with nuts), rasgulla (sweetened milk dough) and gulab jamun (milk balls with rose water and cardamom).
At Namaste Grocery and Grill, 3675 W. Henrietta Rd., Gurpal Singh handles the restaurant side of the store. Singh immigrated to New York City in 1985 and moved to Rochester five years later; he, his brother and nephew opened Namaste in 2004.
“There were only two other Desi stores in the city,” he said. “In the store we usually get more Desi customers, but the restaurant attracts an international crowd. People like paneer and chicken makhani. We do special buffets for festivals.”
Singh grew up in Haryana and celebrates festivals in the Hindu and Sikh temples. Atte ka halwa (roasted wheat flour with ghee and sugar) is given as a religious offering in a Gurdwara (place of worship). Singh also mentioned Lohri, a harvest festival celebrated in North India to bid goodbye to the harsh winters (something Rochesterians can definitely get behind). The festival centers around a bonfire where offerings are made as people sing and dance to welcome a bountiful season ahead, often while enjoying til papdi (caramelized sesame seeds), shakar pare (deep fried wholewheat flour balls encased in sugar syrup) and bags of roasted shell-on peanuts.
Traditionally, Singh would eat makke ki roti (maize flatbread) and sarson ka saag (spicy curry made of mustard leaves) with gur (cane sugar) on the side — but rabdi (a dessert made with condensed milk and sweetened nuts and cardamom) is his favorite part of Lohri.
Namaste stocks organic gulal (color) for Holi, frozen gujiya (a deep fried delicacy) and ready-to-eat samosa and kachori. Their produce, stocked fresh twice a week, is a goldmine: a variety of eggplant, okra, Indian gourds, red chilies, banana blossoms and raw mangoes.
Both stores offer a variety of traditional foods, fried snacks and raw ingredients. Aisles of pickles, whole spices, lentils, rice and flours are a haven for anyone interested in South Asian cuisine. There are traditional options for fasting: seasonal pumpkins, sabudana (tapioca pearls), makhana (fox nuts) and kuttu atta (buckwheat flour). The large selection is a testament to the small grocers of Rochester — serving the diverse communities of an immigrant city.
More South Asian shops:
- Desi Bazaar, 1713 Crittenden Rd #1411 | Indian, Afghan and Turkish
- Gorkhas Grocery, 537 State St. | Nepali and Bhutanese
- International Food Market, 1175 Marketplace Dr. | South Asian, Turkish and Eastern European
Suhasini Patni is a contributor to CITY.