Indian store in Kraków: Little India on Starowiślna Street

The Little India Indian store in Kraków is at ul. Starowiślna 38 lok. C and is open Monday to Saturday, 11:00 to 19:00. It sells Indian spices, rice, flours, dals, sauces, snacks, tea and cosmetics, plus groceries from other Asian and world cuisines. The shop is closed on Sundays.

Address, opening hours and phone

Hours can change, for example on public holidays. The current details are on the Little India shops page (in Polish, "sklepy lokalne"). If you are coming for one particular product, phone first and ask whether it is in the shop.

In Polish, people call the shop "sklep indyjski" (Indian shop), and "lok. C" on the address means unit C.

What you can buy

Typical things to buy at an Indian store:

• spices: turmeric (haldi), cumin (jeera), coriander (dhania), cardamom, cloves, garam masala, asafoetida (hing), fenugreek (methi),
• rice and flours: basmati, atta for chapati and roti, besan (gram flour), rice flour,
• pulses: toor dal, chana dal, moong dal, masoor dal, chickpeas and beans,
• ready sauces and pastes: curry pastes, ginger-garlic paste, chutney, pickle (achar),
• snacks and sweets: namkeen, papad, sweets for Diwali,
• tea and drinks: black tea for masala chai, drinks from India and Asia,
• home and beauty: hair oils, soaps, incense, pooja items.

The Kraków shop has its own range, which can differ from the online shop. For rarer items, such as fresh vegetables from India or a particular brand, phone ahead.

A shopping list for your first Indian meal

If you are just starting, do not buy twenty spices at once. For a simple dal with rice you need:

1. basmati rice,
2. one lentil, for example red masoor dal, which cooks quickly,
3. turmeric, whole cumin seeds and ground coriander,
4. garam masala,
5. ghee or oil,
6. ginger-garlic paste, if you do not want to peel fresh ginger and garlic.

With these you can cook dal tadka: boil the lentils with turmeric and salt, then pour over hot ghee with cumin, garlic and chilli at the end. We cover spices in more detail in Indian spices: a starter kit.

Polish names worth knowing

Most Indian products carry an English or Hindi name, but Polish shop staff and Polish recipes use Polish words. A few pairs help: turmeric is "kurkuma", cumin is "kmin rzymski", coriander is "kolendra", fenugreek is "kozieradka", asafoetida is "asafetyda", chickpeas are "ciecierzyca" and lentils are "soczewica". Wholewheat flour for chapati is sold as "mąka atta". If you do not know a name, show the staff a recipe or a photo.

Ordering online from Kraków

If the opening hours do not suit you, order through the Little India online shop. For heavy shopping, such as a large bag of rice or flour, delivery can be easier than carrying it home. Our guide to the Indian shop in Poland explains how online ordering works.

Where to buy

Little India has a shop in Kraków, three shops in Warsaw, one in Wrocław and one in Gdańsk, and an online shop that ships across Poland. All addresses are on the shops page. Online, you can browse ground spices and lentils, for example.