India Sweets & Groceries

I was pleased to find this local Indian grocer and market. I had a specific mandate from my doctor to incorporate more fiber into my diet, and he suggested a specific species of Indian psyllium husk for the results I was looking for. The ladies behind the counter and even a couple of regular shoppers were more than glad to direct me to exactly what I came in for and even shared some helpful tips for using it safely and effectively! This is a small but well-stocked (to the gills!) and well-appointed market. It even has a hot food bar (gonna take advantage of *that* sometime!) with a couple of tables. It's cozy and has a personable vibe, where the workers and the regulars seem to take prideful ownership in it!

This is a small, family owned grocery store that also has a vegetarian deli where you can order combo meals and also grab an assortment of sweets/desserts. I ordered the masala dosa, saag paneer and samosas to go. The masala dosa, which comes with a side of sambar (lentil stew) would have likely been better eaten there but it was still tasty and satisfying. I personally prefer stronger flavors/spices when it comes to Indian food but everything was still delicious and well-balanced.

Hot Cuisine: Ordered some items to go, but they do have a seating area. Instead of ordering combo meals, I ordered pints - which would be similar as if I ordered at a restaurant, but way more affordable. Similar to my grocery notes below, it's probably easier if you already know which dishes you want to have (reminder that it's all vegetarian - Indian Veg Cuisine). The service is very friendly, but language can be a barrier - smiles, patience, and an adventurous spirit go a long way. Aloo Gobi - large pieces of cauliflower and potatoes. Well cooked veggies. I really enjoyed it, but then it seemed to get salty. Not sure if I would get such a large container again. Aloo Baingan - large pieces of eggplant and potatoes that were very well cooked and tender . I really enjoyed this - I'm more used to baingan bharta - so having it with the potato was a nice change. I loved the slightly sweet flavor. Since they specialize in vegetable cuisine, I was very pleased that both of these dishes has properly cooked veg. Samosa - very large filled with potato and peas. Kinda plain but satisfying. Pakora - too much batter to veg ratio. Taste was fine, but I prefer veggie fritters and not batter fritters. They did reheat very well in a toaster oven. Grocery: The shop has quite a wide variety of items, but I do recommend that you know what you are shopping for. Many items don't have English (or American English) translations, and not everything is marked with a price. I went for some specific items included a canned mango puree (kesar mango is my preference), some nan khatai cookies (kinda like shortbread), and some fine semolina, and then also picked up some snacks. They have a large frozen section that I might check out in the future.

April Food Explorer club wanted to learn about Indian food and culture. So we headed to India Sweets & Groceries. Our group of four loved it. This was the first time for some of them to try Indian food. This is a simple Indian grocery store and we enjoyed looking at the foods available to take home and cook with. Snacks looked great! There are a few tables between the buffet and the grocery aisles. The People serving our food were helpful and supportive as we asked lots of questions. They explained things to us. The customers were also kind and helpful and shared their suggestions for what to order. Some of our favorites were the rice, samosas, Dahi Vada and Palak Paneer. You can not beat the price. We had more then enough food for four people and it was $30.00. This place is not fancy but great for great food and family friendly. We will all return on own and look forward to sharing this treat with our friends.

I'm ashamed to say that I started writing a review of this place way back in 2017 (7 years ago!)...and I'd already been coming here for a couple of years even at that time. In L.A., there are a ton of these 'India Sweets and Spices' or 'New India Sweets and Spices' joints around but this one is "India Sweets & GROCERIES'. I have no clue if they're all related, well, of course they are because they all seem to sell goods as well as prepared food so in that way, they're related. And the prepared food here is fantastic! A very good childhood friend of mine had been keeping this joint a secret until he brought a big 'ol box of Samosas (not the Girl Scout cookie kind) to a party we held many years back. At that time, I believe, the Samosas were $0.75/each.....which was incredible! These massive fried potato and veggie 'wonton' grenades are H-U-G-E, super flavorful and at $0.75/each at that time, a steal. Unfortunately, inflation has even crept into the no-frills 'India Sweets & Groceries' and so they've doubled in price to $1.50/each which still isn't bad. With every Samosa, they give you two delicious chutneys, a green mint one and a tamarind (sweet) one. The chutneys are great too. These are fantastic to bring to parties; everyone loves them. There's a huge selection of ONLY VEGETARIAN curries as well as baked goods and it's a little intimidating trying to figure out what everything is and if we'd like them. The only downside here, for me, is that there are no meat offerings but then I peaked at the menu over at 'All Indian Sweets and Snacks' just north up Hawthorne and their chicken and lamb/goat dishes are $15 and $17, respectively, which I feel is comparable to ordering these at a restaurant. Since it's not one, I wouldn't expect having to pay those prices. I don't know, that's just me. Now, I've never eaten at 'All Indian Sweets and Snacks' but I want a good deal and 'India Sweets and Groceries' offers just that. The staff is always very helpful and even offered me a couple of samples of the curries on this last visit last week because I didn't know what to get (and honestly, I had a hard time understanding what one of the ladies was telling me). You're able to order different sizes which I think is great so I ordered 3 different curries as well as the Saag Paneer (I know what that one is) all in the small size and they went a long way along with the other things I ordered. I actually have a little left of 2 curries almost a week later. The curries are super flavorful, exotic, a little bit spicy and definitely more gourmet or at least different I'd say than your every day Indian buffet. If you're looking for plain and mild Indian buffet flavors, you might not like the curries here. But if you're looking to expand your palette horizon, I think you'll be pleased with the flavors; there's a lot going on in each bite. And actually, I didn't really miss not having my favorites Chicken Tikka Masala or Lamb Vindaloo too much. And even if you're not a fan, you can drown everything with the provided sauces/chutneys and those are yummy so really, it's a win-win. In addition to the usual green mint and tamarind chutneys, we were also given a different green sauce, an orange sauce and a yogurt sauce which was kind of like raita. In addition to the various small size curries (4) I ordered last week (the names of which I have no clue and I doubt I'll ever be able to remember them), I ordered Samosas (4), some Pakora (fried veggie fritters), a Dosa Masala (a Southern Indian 'burrito') and garlic paratha (kind of like Naan but not exactly and I don't know what the difference is frankly). Okee....and now I know: https://www.littleindiaofdenver.com/blog/paratha-vs-naan/#:~:text=While%20naan%20is%20generally%20rolled,creating%20a%20very%20flaky%20bread. Oh, and I ordered two more things; one was a Kachori which I'd never had before and it was amazing; flaky and very delicious, reminded me of a meat pie but a LOT better. I had to decipher that I had had a Kachori just like I had to look up and determine that we had ordered this dish: Dahi Vada. It is a fried lentil ball, cut up and smothered in whipped yogurt, topped with chutneys and onions. It was a little sweet and a lotta very good! I also ordered 4 baked goodies...gulab jamon (fried doughy balls in syrup which are my son's favorite Indian dish), jalebi (which I recognize after having them at Moroccan restaurants; they're the lacey, bright orange, crunchy thingies) and a couple burfi (first time trying them; they're interestingly tasty). The gulab jamon were yummy, just like those I've had at Indian buffets and the jalebi was very good and just like I remembered. Parking is plentiful in the little stripmall parking lot and you can dine in at the handful of tables inside. The grocery store itself has a ton of things, canned, bagged & otherwise as well as many refrigerated & frozen items. I look forward to coming back again and again in the years to come.