Indian food grocery co-op at Merivale and Slack Rd. They carry mostly imported Indian goods.

Membership might only be required for business customers. (must be verified)

Desi Price Club
Desi Price Club
Foods from Desi Price Club

Comments

2012 May 9
I'm not too familiar with that blend, I have heard of it though. I didn't see it personally, but I would bet money that they have it. Like I said, they carry thousands of spice mixes.

love this place :)


2012 May 9
ilikerealfood, did you happen to notice if they sell Vadouvan?
Thanks for posting about this place, I will check it out.

2012 May 9
I have been eyeing this “little” store for some time. Finally, yesterday I had the courage to go inside. Wow. Good buy Loblaw’s and Metro, hello Desi Price Club. Indian cuisine is by far my favourite kind of food, and I have now found a cheep and totally authentic (read: mostly imported) Indian store with a sickening variety of product. Despite the sign on the door that says “we sell to members only”, you don’t need a membership. Maybe the co-op model isn’t working for them? That said; this place is so amazing, that I would easily buy a membership.

What do they sell? Everything! Pani Puri, Indian snacks, literally thousands of spice mixes, rice, ghee, the most amazing variety of sauces, premade goodies, etc etc. As one google reviewer put it,

“[t]his is the biggest and best store catering to [the] Indian subcontinent market in [the] Ottawa area. Here you will find almost everything and it is fresh because the circulation of items is very high. The prices are reasonable and lower than most other stores. The store has good parking and easy access for both centre and west of Ottawa. I wish they had longer opening hours in winter.” – minor syntax corrected lol

This gem of a store just happens to be right next to my band's jam space, so even though it is as far from downtown as possible, I frequent this area 3 to 4 times a week.

2012 May 9
Yesterday I had to pace myself, so I started with a few select items. I picked up four different spice mixes (quite frankly started picking at random), cause there are so many brands, so many flavours and so many variations. Spice packs are like .89 cents. And to think Loblaw’s charges triple that for garlic powder.

My finds: Punjabi Channa, Sidthu Biyrani, Chat Masala (sprinkle for savories), and good ol fashioned Channa Masala.

I also picked up some Ghee so I could start making these awesome creations, ASAP.

I will have to invest in a lot of fabrese, as my house isn’t going to smell great after a few days. The general rule of thumb is to wait a few days in between cooking Indian food, but with this new store, it will be hard to stay disciplined.

Pani Puri, this is dangerous; I found a steady Pani Puri source. I described the Pani Puri/Gol Gappa process in my post on the Bramptonian Indian Restaurant, “Tandoori Flame” (pictures of the finished product included). Forum - Tandoori Flame - Show and Tell I picked up all the appropriate accoutrements such as Tamarind water (which comes in powder form), tamarind sauce (made by the English company Maggi – love it), and these little potato string snacks, which are always yummi to include in the pani puri for that extra crunch. I will be sprinkling my Chat Masala on my potato chickpea pani pui masala mixture, can’t wait!!!

And finally, for you pop lovers out there, I picked up Thumbs up Cola and Limca. These are both made by the Coca-Cola Company in India. Thumbs up tasted like a cheap cola, with a bit of an Indian flavor to it. My guess is that there is a little cardamom in it, but “permitted natural flavours” as it reads on the ingredient list does not satisfy my curiosity. I have not tried Limca yet. Not sure if I’d buy these again, it was mainly for the novelty, and plus, thumbs up is in a cool bottle.

And as a finishing note, I chatted up with the lady at the front counter. She was incredibly impressed that I knew about pani puri and she tested me on how to properly eat it. Hehe, I passed. She said her own son has no clue. Lol. Where I’m going with this, is that she corroborated my assertion that Ottawa has really weak Indian cuisine options. We agreed that Shaan Curry House is convenient, quite authentic and affordable. She recommended Kararra on Merivale, but she said they are pricey, and she also recommended a place in Bell’s Corners, but she could not remember the name. Her final comment was that her Indian standard is very high, and so she only eats out in the GTA when she is visiting her family in – you guessed it – Brampton. She agreed that it’s a borderline crime to charge over 10 dollars for a channa masala, which most Indian restaurants in Ottawa charge – at least.

Come check this place out. If you love Indian food like I do, you need to patronize this place