On my second adventure of India in Dallas, I visited an Indian grocery store. We hopped on the 75 and took it north to the town of Richardson, where we visited Taj Mahal Imports. As we pulled into the parking lot it looked like you average strip mall that would have a Ross or a Party City in it. Taj Mahal Imports had a very nondescript storefront, but it was easy to find and we got a parking spot right in front of the door.
When we walked I was greeted with the smells of India. In the front there was a sale on Ganesh statues. They were bright pink and green and I almost got one, but the small size of my dorm room crushed that thought. There were also large bags of rice in piles that reminded me of feed stores.
We arrived a little earlier than everyone else, so we decided to walk down the aisles. They had a wide variety of items ranging from traditional spices and flours to junk food and beauty products. They even had fresh fruit and a freezer section. The products that made me the most exciting were the English products and the juice. I got two packages of Digestives, original and dark chocolate, and a carton of guava juice to take back to campus with me.
Our focal point for the trip was located in the back corner of the store, a Chaat counter. Chaat is a savory food that one can typically buy on the roadside in India among other places in Asia. In the United States it can typically be found at a counter in the back of an Indian imports grocery store. A notable Chaat counter is located in Berkley, California at Vik’s Distributor. They originally started as just a grocery story. Then due to all the people, many who were either from India or of Indian descent, that came they decided to add a tiny chaat counter that was run by the wife. Then due to that popular demand especially those who would visit Berkley they had to expand multiple times until they had a restaurant that was almost a big as the original store.
This was not exactly the case with the chaat counter in Taj Mahal Imports. It was about a quarter of the whole store. There was a wall that defined the “restaurant” from the rest of the grocery store. Within the wall there were three lines of benches and the counter. Behind the counter two ladies were there waiting to help us and pots of delicious chaat waiting to be served. They had about eight options all at the price of $3.25. I got the samosa chaat mild. It was absolutely delicious. I have no idea what was in it, but it was fantastic and very filing.
Taj Mahal Imports was definitely a wonderful adventure. I could see myself going back be it for more digestives and guava juice or to the back of the store for some more delicious chaat.
