Hi everyone!
Just wanted to mention I was shocked this past week to see fresh bunches of coriander at my local Tesco!  I dont mean those little sealed packages but big bunches at 49p each or 3/1 pound.  They were really fresh and were a new item.  Also, I noticed a new section in the aisle with the ethnic groceries near the regular indian section and it is for indian ingredients that you would find in an indian store.  I dont mean curry sauce jars but actual ingredients like spices, snacks, desserts and many other items that were previosuly found only in the indian stores.  Prices are reasonable.
Another place i noticed "real" indian groceries was Somerfields but it looks like they are discontinuing the specialty section as everything was half price - they had massive bags of cinnamon sticks and large Kohinoor jars of spices for less than a pound.
There must be a demand for these things at the regular grocery stores..some items are even cheaper than at the indian stores.  For example, for those people who make roti or chappatis, Asda has the best quality aata (East End Gold) flour for less than a pound for a 1.5 kg package.  I buy that from Birmingham or Leicester for 1.75 usually!!!  So worth a look again at local stores - the brands and supply keeps changing!

Some Asda and Morrison stores also do a lot of Indian stuff, not only the small pots of spices but the bigger more economical bags. As for coriander I always seem to get there to late and all that`s left is the "living Herb" type in the pot(and it never grows back!) I don`t think you can beat a good rumage around an Asian Supermarket. If you shop in Birmingham the Wing Yip Chinese Supermarket has even bigger bags of spices for all Indian and Chinese cooking........regards........mike..  ;D

Hi All,

I don't know if this is only at my local ASDA, but they are doing the Patak's Creamed coconut (200g) for 50p.  And I don't know if anyone else has seen them yet, the 200g is now split into 4 individually sealed 50g sachets. At this price and with the convenience of the individual sachets, it may well be worth stocking up.  The best before date on what I bought this week is 24-04-2008.

Cheers,

Blondie

This is obviously a local thing because our local Tesco has had fresh bunches of coriander for about three years. It started stocking fresh bunches of all the other herbs about  a year ago.

It's had an Indian section for a long time and this stocks catering size oil, rice, spices etc. The strange thing is that I rarely see an Asian person when I'm shopping there and there are few Asians in this area. Normally I would have thought this would be a prerequisite for stocking trade size Indian goods.

YF

Oh, it must be a local thing!  My area has alot of asians and it takes almost an hour to drive to Birmingham or Leicester for groceries.  So I must made do with local places most of the time.  But of course, nothing beats the asian stores in terms of selection.  My ASDA has had the creamed coconut packets and I use them all the time!!  very convenient!  I dont even melt them - i just cut open the packet and it comes out in 1 large piece.  My Tesco has also started carrying the boxed packets.

The West Midlands where I live (close to Birmingham) has a large Asian community, all with there own shops selling spices and stuff to all comers. You can get virtually anything for your Indian cooking, and the smell as you walk in the door? oooh la la!! But a lot of non shop owning Asians do shop at "our" local supermarkets for normal stuff so maybe thats why a lot of Asian foodstuffs are now available. It can only be good for all the Chefs on this site....mike

My local Asda in Leicester has a vast selection of Indian goods - fresh coriander, ginger, curry leaves, strange vegetables, big boxes of kasuri methi, huge spice selection with boxes of masalas including chat masala, panch phoran, and catering size bags of spices and rice etc etc. It's great!