Winter or summer, I love a good curry, and nothing is more satisfying for me than mixing up and making my own spice blends to make the perfect curry at home.
I wanted to share my pick of Cape Town’s best spice shops with you so that you too can cook curry at home like a pro with the finest spices the Cape has to offer.
First up is Atlas, the spice shop situated in Bo-Kaap, now whilst Bo-Kaap is best known for it’s colourful houses it’s steeped in Cape Malay history, so no suprise that one of Cape Town’s most visited spice emporiums can be found there. And it is quite the institution. The staff are knowledgeable and will even share some family curry making secrets if you ask nicely. Spices can be bought fresh and in their whole form or dried and packaged. My favourite thing about Atlas is the smell when you enter. Every memory of being with my gran in the kitchen whilst she lovingly prepared either a chicken curry or biryani come flooding back.
Then there is the Cape Spice Emporium, situated on Lansdowne road in Lansdowne. I love this store. It is rather large and stocks all the spices you’d need to make the perfect mix at home. They also have a range of ready made frozen products that you can take home and simply heat or fry if you are short on time, and trust me they are good. I adore the sweetcorn and cheese samoosas which have just the right amount of a chilli bite to get those taste buds tingling. But the range of what they do does not end there. They also sell authentic indian cookware, so beautiful pots and pans and serving dishes…it’s quite hard to walk in there and not walk out without at least one piece.
Fargo Trading is next on my list. Situated in Salt River this shop has a vast array of spices for Indian and Thai cooking. There is beans and pulses and edible rice paper and it is beautifully laid out. Many a home curry cook swear by them and is sure worth a visit if you haven’t yet been.
I do hope that this post has helped you decide where you you want to gather your spices from…so do it, make some delicious curry and please do share with me on my page on FB: sue-Ann Allen Culinary Management
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