Shop Like an Expert: Exploring Indian Markets in Columbus
The founder of Create Your Curry shares some of her shopping tips; plus, we have this week's food and drink news.
The Founder of Create Your Curry Offers Tips for Shopping at Indian Groceries
By Bethia Woolf
International markets can be a little overwhelming—packed with unfamiliar ingredients, labels in different languages, brands you’ve never heard of, and produce you’ve never seen before. Therefore, we’re starting a new series called “Shop Like an Expert.”
Similar to our existing “Dine Like an Expert” series, we hope to help demystify Columbus’ international markets and give you more confidence to shop like a pro. We’ll share tips and recommendations from our experts on their favorite brands, what they like to buy, and which markets they prefer—and why.
Today, we’re starting with Dr. Bidisha Nag, who teaches Indian cooking classes in her home under the name Create Your Curry. Dr. Nag previously guided us on how to dine like an expert at Aangan Indian Restaurant.
I visited two different markets with Nag, who told me she typically shops at both Patel Brothers (large and well-stocked) and Bhavani Cash & Carry (smaller and more personable, they also serve chai and samosas). Both receive fresh vegetable deliveries on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Nag prefers to shop on Wednesday afternoons or Thursday mornings, when the vegetables are fresh but the store is a bit less busy.
Patel Brothers
Founded in Chicago in 1974, Patel Brothers (6600 Sawmill Road) is the largest chain of Indian grocery stores in the U.S., with over 50 locations across 20 states. The owners of Patel Brothers are Gujarati, and Nag explained that Gujarati cuisine includes a lot of dal, which is why the store has such an extensive selection of lentils and beans. But there’s also plenty variety of another staple…
Rice
This Indian food staple and unsurprisingly fills a large portion of the store. When I asked how she picks a brand or type of rice, Nag said that because it’s such a widely eaten staple in India, people often use a budget-friendly, parboiled, long-grain rice for everyday meals. Basmati, a more expensive variety, is reserved for special occasions, plain rice and biryanis. For fried rice, she uses a shorter grain.
Nag doesn’t have a strong brand preference but shops based on a balance of price (usually opting for a mid-price brand) and flavor. According to Nag, some reliable brands are Kohinoor, Daawat and Swad.
When cooking rice, Nag likes to wash it first with several changes of water and then adds salt, bayleaf and whole cardamom.
Frozen Foods
Patel Brothers carries a well-stocked variety of Indian frozen foods. Nag recommends frozen parathas, which are labor-intensive to make from scratch and handy to keep in the freezer. Her preferred brand is Kawan, and she typically buys the reduced-fat version, though they come in a variety of flavors and textures. She also likes Haldiram’s Minute Khana paneer onion parathas, which she eats with plain yogurt.
Nag also buys frozen vegetables, focusing on ones that are hard to peel or chop and that she uses in soups (like sambar). For example, she buys red pearl onions, frozen drumstick (aka moringa pods) and coconut flesh. You can buy these individually or as a pre-mixed bag with all the vegetables needed for sambar.
Since ginger and garlic are used so often in Indian cookery and other Asian cuisines, Nag recommends buying Vadilal frozen ginger-garlic cubes which she said are convenient and better than jarred pastes.
One interesting fact I learned from Nag: She always buys frozen okra from Indian markets even though it’s available at most grocery stores. Indian brands remove the stem ends, whereas American brands typically leave the stem cap on. It saves picking through to remove the stems.
Frozen fruits, such as mango slices, are great for smoothies, but Nag recommends canned mango for lassis.
Patel Brothers also stocks a wide variety of frozen Indian meals. Nag noted that the quality and variety have improved a lot over the past few years. One she pointed out was the Deep brand Mysore masala dosa, which comes in a pack of four for $3.99.
Refrigerated Items
Nag recommends the fresh, ready-to-cook chapati from Phulka Fresh as another useful timesaver. Meanwhile, if you want to try making dosa at home, she suggests Priyems dosa batter. Choose the batter made specifically for dosa (not the combined idli-dosa batter), as it has a smoother texture.
Nag doesn’t usually buy sweets at markets. Instead, she recommends visiting a specialty Indian sweets shop, such as Bikanervala in Dublin, because their offerings tend to be fresher and come in a wider variety.
And what about paneer? Nag says she prefers to buy the soft, South Asian cheese at Costco rather than at Indian markets.
Produce
The produce sections at both markets are impressive. On the day we shopped, Patel Brothers had five varieties of eggplant. Nag said there’s so much regionality in Indian cooking that even she doesn’t always recognize every vegetable.
Nag likes to buy fresh banana leaves, which can be used to wrap and steam fish.
She didn’t buy ginger from Patel Brothers the day we visited because it didn’t look fresh enough—she looks for plump roots with no wrinkles.
She was happy with the okra, though. Her tip: Break off the tip of a pod to see how easily it snaps. If it doesn’t break easily, it’s probably too woody. Small pods are best. She likes to stir-fry fresh okra with onions and chiles.
Fats
Nag said she finds it funny that people in the U.S. cook with coconut oil. She grew up using it as a hair product, so it’s hard to think of it as a cooking ingredient. For ghee, she recommends Nanak and Amul brands or her favorite brand that’s available at Bhavani–Bagha Bari Gawa Ghee.
Snacks
Patel Brothers has a new section featuring snacks produced in Illinois. Nag’s favorite salty snack is namak para, strips of fried dough seasoned with ajwain and cumin seeds. She also likes Swad bhel puri for a quick, on-the-go snack that’s great for traveling. Other snacks she pointed out include khakhra, which are similar to tostadas—crunchy, spiced flat discs—and makhana, puffed lotus seeds available in several flavors.
Spices
Spice mixes are a popular way to season dishes without measuring each spice individually. She draws the line at buying garam masala, though—she always makes her own blend. Some of Nag’s favorite blends and brands include:
Rajah Tandoori Masala
MDH Chunky Chat Masala
MDH Sambar Masala
Everest Pav Bhaji Masala
Everest Chhole Masala
MDH Chana Masala
Everest Rajma Masala
Shan Dal Masala
MTR Lemon Rice Powder
Condiments
Nag recommends Bombay Sandwich Spread, a green chutney with coriander and mint that adds a kick to sandwiches. She also enjoys Maggi Hot and Sweet Tomato Chilli Sauce, which she calls “India’s ketchup.” Her favorite pickles are Mother’s Recipe mango mixed pickles.
Tip: If you see a label marked Jain—referring to Jainism, the ancient Indian religion—it means the product is vegetarian and contains no root vegetables such as onions, garlic, carrots or potatoes.
Bhavani Cash & Carry
Bhavani Cash & Carry (2855 Festival Lane, Dublin) is part of a smaller Gujarati-owned chain, based in New Jersey. Nag also enjoys stopping at Bhavani because she likes getting a cup of chai and a samosa there. She also has a few favorite products that she buys exclusively at Bhavani:
Putul Palm Jaggery (Bangladeshi jaggery in the frozen section)
Bagha Bari Gawa Ghee (Dr. Nag’s favorite ghee)
Lopchu Darjeeling Tea
Frozen Bengali sweets
Bhavani is located very close to Park to Shop, an Asian grocery on Festival Lane, so Nag sometimes pops in there for produce or other items too.
If you want to learn more about how to use some of the ingredients Dr. Nag recommends or more about Indian cuisine in general, be sure to sign up for one of her classes by visiting facebook.com/createyourcurry.
Indian Markets in Columbus
Bhavani Cash & Carry
2855 Festival Lane, Dublin
Patel Brothers
6600 Sawmill Road, Northwest Columbus
Trinethra Indian Supermarket
8481 Sancus Blvd., Polaris
India Grocers
5839 Sawmill Road, Dublin
Garuda Indian Super Market
1047 Polaris Pkwy., Polaris
There are also a large number of smaller Nepali markets which typically offer some Indian items.
News & Happenings
Around the Columbus Food & Drink Scene
Wolf’s Ridge Brewing is set to revitalize The Worthington Inn’s restaurant at 649 High St. The Columbus-based brewery, which operates a Downtown restaurant and taproom as well as Understory, is planning a dining room, lounge and bar on the main floor of the historic building and a cocktail lounge on the lower level. Columbus Business First has more here.
The family behind the Mediterranean restaurant Panini Opa on Sawmill Road plans to open a new location at North Market Bridge Park (6750 Longshore Street) this month. The new Panini Opa stall will offer a menu of American/Mediterranean cuisines, including items like spanakopita, spicy feta dip, hummus, calamari, panini, burgers, soup, salads and more.
Hokkaido Revolving Sushi Bar, an all-you-can eat sushi bar from the owners of Coco Cuisine, opened yesterday at 1466 Bethel Road. The AYCE restaurant will feature sushi delivered via conveyor belts that circulate the dining room as well as dishes like ramen and poke bowls.
The first Hilliard Winter Indoor Market takes place 4-7 p.m. today, Nov. 11, at the Makoy Center (5462 Center St.). The market will continue every Tuesday during the fall/winter season. It’s the newest addition to a growing lineup of indoor farmers markets available in Central Ohio; we made a list of them here.
The folks behind High Bank Distillery Co. are toasting a huge win this week. Its High Bank Vodka, which is distilled from organic wheat and Ohio apples, earned the title of World’s Best Vodka at the 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, known as the largest spirits competition in the world. High Bank beat out four other vodka finalists from Brazil, Romania, Poland and France.
What a great concept for a regular feature! I'm generally overwhelmed in international grocery stores. Looking forward to reading more about what I don't know about in Columbus.