Like OP said, definitely whatever specific ethnic markets might be around. I go to an east Asian grocery store, an Indian store, a Latino store, and a Turkish store.
Some spices are literally repackaged by the grocery store into ziploc bags, and some are brand names in alphabets I dont know, but here are some brand names to search:
Laxmi, Suraj, Roshni, and Wise Wife for Indian spices
Badia and La Fiesta for Latino spices and peppers.
Sadaf for middle eastern/Mediterranean.
East Asian brands (at least that I have) appear to be less dominated by a few players, and they appear to be the ones that aren’t using the Latin alphabet.
It’s all probably stuff you can get on Amazon, though obviously, id avoid that if you can. If you dont have any good stores where you live, spices aren’t a bad thing to bring home from a vacation.
Last thing I’ll mention is to avoid any sketchy seeming brands selling preground spices that are red/orange/yellow. Think spices like sumac, cinnamon, saffron(which you shouldn’t buy ground anyway). Bad suppliers will occasionally dose those with lead oxides to make the color more vibrant.
Also this is more east coast, but 24mantra and Fyve Elements(brand) also has decent spices. Same with Three Rivers (MENA spices).
Also you’ll probably find MDH more through out the US but their Garam masala powder isn’t awful. Better than Shan (even accounting for saffron).
Source: Parents own and run an Indian grocery store and I basically live there, we get stuff from Roshni, Fyve Elements and Shata Traders (they sell three rivers).
Yeah, things with unrealistic colors for the type should definitely be avoided. If Dollar Tree has had to do recalls because of too much lead in its ground cinnamon then other suppliers are doing it too. Which is another reason to buy whole spices and grind your own.
Like OP said, definitely whatever specific ethnic markets might be around. I go to an east Asian grocery store, an Indian store, a Latino store, and a Turkish store.
Some spices are literally repackaged by the grocery store into ziploc bags, and some are brand names in alphabets I dont know, but here are some brand names to search:
Laxmi, Suraj, Roshni, and Wise Wife for Indian spices
Badia and La Fiesta for Latino spices and peppers.
Sadaf for middle eastern/Mediterranean.
East Asian brands (at least that I have) appear to be less dominated by a few players, and they appear to be the ones that aren’t using the Latin alphabet.
It’s all probably stuff you can get on Amazon, though obviously, id avoid that if you can. If you dont have any good stores where you live, spices aren’t a bad thing to bring home from a vacation.
Last thing I’ll mention is to avoid any sketchy seeming brands selling preground spices that are red/orange/yellow. Think spices like sumac, cinnamon, saffron(which you shouldn’t buy ground anyway). Bad suppliers will occasionally dose those with lead oxides to make the color more vibrant.
Also this is more east coast, but 24mantra and Fyve Elements(brand) also has decent spices. Same with Three Rivers (MENA spices).
Also you’ll probably find MDH more through out the US but their Garam masala powder isn’t awful. Better than Shan (even accounting for saffron).
Source: Parents own and run an Indian grocery store and I basically live there, we get stuff from Roshni, Fyve Elements and Shata Traders (they sell three rivers).
I can answer other questions you might have.
Yeah, things with unrealistic colors for the type should definitely be avoided. If Dollar Tree has had to do recalls because of too much lead in its ground cinnamon then other suppliers are doing it too. Which is another reason to buy whole spices and grind your own.