Spices and Asian cooking

Spices are all very easy to find. Even Carrefour has a great selection.  You can also get them most of them fresh at the various open markets.  For dummies like me who don't read Arabic I especially appreciate that most of the packages are Arabic on one side and English on the other.  I'm not sure about coconut oil though.  There are Asian shops (and an Asian section at Carrefour) so that shouldn't be a problem.

Hello Burn Side

The term Garam Masala belongs to |Indian Sub continent. Are you comming from India ??

Not from India, just like cooking!  There are some nice, hot (garam) flavours that might be difficult to find....but not it seems. 
Still need coconut oil source.

Well yes its difficult to find , in fact so far i didn't see any "garam masala" . So I'll recommend you to bring it along with you

Hi ,
I think you can find a variety of spices in Cairo specially at some of the local herbalist and spices shop called the A'tar .Not sure about the garam masala however you can find curry ,mustard seeds,cumin,cardamon,paprika,nutmeg,cinnamon,tumeric,all kinds of herbs ,etc....For the coconut oil it should not be difficult to find either as they even have at the A'tar arugula oil ,sesame oil,and many other varieties ,etc ...If u go to the Khan Al Khalil in islamic Cairo you will find everything .Good luck .

Speaking of Indian food... Can anybody recommend a good Indian restaurant in Cairo?

Thank you!

elhector wrote:

Speaking of Indian food... Can anybody recommend a good Indian restaurant in Cairo?

Thank you!

I tried an India restraunt in Hilton Hotel. It was way too much expensive and certainly not worthy. Some of the dishes were so transformed because ov the unavailability ov ingrediants in Egypt that they couldn't be called Indian anymore. Terrible exp. that was.

However I liked Masala in Heliopolis.

Bring your own Asian spices. I had a friend bring my masala and curry powder over from South Africa. The curry powder here just does not taste the same to me. The rest like cumin seeds, paprika, nutmeg and cardamon are all available at carrefour. There is also a great variety of fresh herbs as well. Making a bryani here has been a challenge, but thanks to carrefour I was easily able to collect all spices needed for the dish.

elhector wrote:

Speaking of Indian food... Can anybody recommend a good Indian restaurant in Cairo?

Thank you!

I have tried the following Indian restaurants. It is better to talk to the chef and tell him the taste you would like to have in your food. Most of them do comply. Do expect the taste to differ from the cooking in India...

Masala @ Karvin hotel in heliopolis
Indra @ City Stars (extension of the Holiday Inn)
Silk Route @ Concorde El Salaam
Maharani @ La Paacha (Boat on the Nile near the Cairo Towers)
Indian Restaurant @ Ramses Hilton
Mohgul Restaurant @ Mina House Oberoi
Kandahaar Restaurant in Mohandesein

All are ok.. some may be a bit too heavy on the pocket...

Have not tried the "Chingari" @ Hayaat

By the way in case anyone is in Hurghada, you must try the Masaala restaurant. I had a very good experience.

Let me know in case you want to dine out... would be a pleasure to accompany..

Regards
Arun

I got some indian food delivered from this restaurant called Nawab in Zamalek ...I thought it was great food and reasonably priced...
I have recently moved to Cairo myself.. i haven't been able to find Turmeric yet.. but could find most of the other spices..

Ktduggal wrote:

I got some indian food delivered from this restaurant called Nawab in Zamalek ...I thought it was great food and reasonably priced...
I have recently moved to Cairo myself.. i haven't been able to find Turmeric yet.. but could find most of the other spices..

Tumeric is widely available in Cairo. Look for it in Metro or any supermarket that sell the El Doha spices - it is very easy to get. It's in a small blue-lidded plastic jar.

is this ( Yellow Pages Masala Hurghada ) the Masala restaurant in Hurghada?

hello burnside;

all spices should be easy to get from cairo even somtimes gram masala you can find , but for me i make grama mazala at home as its much more pure and strong , its combined of gloves , cinnamon and nutmeg all together in the mixer , even curry mixe i make at home so its always fresh, if you"r interested i will give you content of each , wellcome to egypt

suzana

there is an amazing place in mohandiseen at aswan square called essence barbeque.  the chef there is a pakistani lady and her cooking is delicious.  only india place in cairo that i have tried so far

yellowpages.com.eg/profile/MjcxNjY2/Essence.html

Hi Burnside -

My SO is British, but his parents are Indian. You can buy garam masala here at Alpha market. The other lady's suggestion of making your own is good too - it is just a combination of spices.

There is lots of good Indian food in Cairo, don't worry!

Ktduggal wrote:

I got some indian food delivered from this restaurant called Nawab in Zamalek ...I thought it was great food and reasonably priced...
I have recently moved to Cairo myself.. i haven't been able to find Turmeric yet.. but could find most of the other spices..

thanks for sharing with us that indian restaurant. i'm going to try soon. By the way, what did u order? how much?

Has anyone seen fish sauce for sale anywhere - fish sauce is frequently used in Thai meals?

Thanks

Tricia

Hi,

I am coming to Cairo in a week or two, need to ask are there any packed curry masalas available, imported from India or Pakistan. (i used to get them easily in England). i am talking about cury masalas for different Indian/Pakistani dishes.

Tahir

Fish sauce is found in the alfa markets the last time we bought it was in one liter bottles.One of our friends told us they saw it in metro but i never looked there for it.

spices for Indian dishes are all available from the spice shops.I'm not sure about the prepackaged mixes.

Indian spices....I had to bring my own mustard seeds, garam masala and cannot find gram flour but most other spices are available. I heard about a guy called hassan in mohendiseen who supplied Indian ingredients a yr or so ago, so gonna see if I can contact him.

Hi tricia, I found some fish sauce yesterday in Seoudi supermarket-assume it's at all the stores but if not, one in silver mall katameya has it:) if your nearby I'll get some for you!

Tahir, carefour do some packet masalas but not like the range frm th uk unfort.

Def want to try essence BBQ:) I tried masala restaurant at karvin hotel last Friday night-was v good!

M

Thanks for advice friends. C U in cairo Insha AllAH

I know what you mean, i stayed in Cairo for almost a year and used 5-6 table spoons of red Egyptian spice just to get a bit of flavour lol

thanks for all the advice regarding fish sauce - sorted!  Wonderful

My pleasure, Tricia:)

alimirza wrote:

Well yes its difficult to find , in fact so far i didn't see any "garam masala" . So I'll recommend you to bring it along with you

Garam Masala and all other Indian spices available @ Nawab Indian Restaurant, 21B, Bahgat Ali Street, Zamalek, Cairo Cell 010 0016706

probal > you should register your restaurant in the business directory

Mohammed Sitara
landline: xxx
mobile : xxxx

He sells atta, besan, makki ki atta, rice flour, sooji rava, urad dal, toor dal, channa dal, whole masala, masala powder etc