Royal Indian Spice and Food

Earlier this month, I had to drive DD15 to a youth conference near Philadelphia. I took the opportunity to visit some friends in Conshohocken, who told me about a little Indian grocery store.

Royal India Food and Spices is just north of the King of Prussia Mall on Route 202. (map) The store is a Petro gas stations, but instead of the usual gas station snacks and soda, the store is stocked with Indian spices, dry goods, and some produce. They also distribute Indian movies and rent Uhaul trucks. When we were there, two nice Sikh gentlemen waited on us and advised me about moderately-priced rice.

We bought a huge hand of ginger root for $1.99/lb. I also got a 10 lb bag of basmati rice for $13.99. (It is almost $20 in our grocery stores.) I also spotted a 2-lb bag of masoor daal (split red lentils) for $3.99. We bought bags of ground garam masala spice blend, black mustard seeds, and ground cardamom. I brought home a jar of ginger paste, thinking it might be handy when fresh ginger is not available.

I definitely plan to stop in whenever I am in the area, adding ingredients as we try new dishes. I want to try chanaa dal next, a small split yellow bean. It is very popular in India, but not well known in the West. Apparently vendors try to substitute yellow split peas, but I bet Royal India will have the real thing.