Where To Buy The Freshest Spices In Mumbai

Planning to wow your dinner guests by cooking up some lip-smacking gourmet Mughlai food but don’t know where to get your spices from? Worried that packaged supermarket spices won’t have the flavor or freshness to make your dish the culinary superstar it is meant to be? We bring you a list of the best market spots to pick up fresh spices in Mumbai.

Mirchi Galli

This historic haven for spice lovers from the city is located by Crawford Market near Jama Masjid in Kalbadevi. Featuring dried chilli powders as well as fresh chillies from around the country, this tiny lane cramped with spice stores used to be a bustling mini-market of its own with hundreds of shops selling assorted spices. Whatever remains today is still impressive. Dry chilli varieties available here include Kashmiri, Byadagi from Karnataka and Guntur from Andhra Pradesh, among others. Fresh chillies of every colour and size are also sold in bulk. Though the chillies are the highlight, you can find pretty much any other spice you want in the stores around this area.

Damji Manji

Lalbaug Spice Market

Prepare to be overwhelmed by the sheer varieties of each spice available at this spice lane, near the Lower Parel railway station. From coriander powder, turmeric and nutmeg to copra or the dried flesh of coconuts, there isn’t anything you can’t find here. You will find vendors and their families pick, sort, grind and clean spices outside their colourful bustling stores. Most stores let customers use their equipment to grind their own spices or make their own masalas by mixing. Spices are sold for wholesale rates most of the time.

Sanjeevani Masala Store

This store in Prabhadevi cleans and grinds its own spices, becoming one of the city’s best sources for fresh and flavourful spices. They even export their spices abroad, but lucky for you they are just a short walk from the Prabhadevi Temple. They also have their own spice mixes or masalas.

G W Khamkar Spice

While they launched their special Khamkar masala way back in 1937, GW Khamkar opened as a retail shop in 1983. With state-of-the art machinery and technology, they are a lot more advanced and organized than the other spice stores on this list. However their spices, unlike packaged spices sold en masse, are fresh and clean. They even have a website for anyone seeking to learn more about Indian spice varieties.

Did you know – Culture Trip now does bookable, small-group trips? Pick from authentic, immersive Epic Trips, compact and action-packed Mini Trips and sparkling, expansive Sailing Trips.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.