630028 Sun Jun 21 21:04:12 -0700 2009 12 17 What's My Craving? 0 4793490 Hi all, I'm looking for the dried/smoked fruit called kudampuli/kodampuli/Garcinia cambogia/Fish tamarind, etc. in NYC. You can see photos and a description here: http://blog.sigsiv.com/2008/04/kudampuli-gambooge.html. Any clues? I am going to check out Foods of India on Lex. I know Kalustyan's doesn't have it. Anyone know of a South Indian grocery anywhere? I'm on a mission and will gladly travel to all boroughs. Thanks. Sun Jun 21 21:04:12 -0700 2009 179567 hennybee 1 4796277 OK, so for any other maniacs who decide they *need* kudampuli to make their lives fulfilled, an update. Foods of India didn't have it, know what it was, or care, so I went next door to Kalustyan's and after asking some very nice and helpful folks in the back near the refrigerated section and getting laughed at by the nasty woman behind the counter, one of the managers/owners overheard and launched into a tirade. I finally got him to admit that it does exist but according to him, not in the US. He says all the chefs use kokum instead, which I bought (but I'm secretly more determined than ever to find the real deal because the kokum isn't smoked and I think that's the key to getting the real flavor). I'm thinking though maybe it is not allowed to be imported because it was used in some weight loss supplements that were banned by the FDA?? Mon Jun 22 17:01:53 -0700 2009 4793490 179567 hennybee 2 4808960 I have seen this ingredient around since I get involved in similar searches. My current search, for a lichen used in masalas called "stone flower", kalpasa or bagad phool (among other names) has been futile. but I keep trying. Oaktree road is my next stop. Pic below might help a little. I have black kokum at home, as well as another garcinai product, asam gelugor, which I dug up at the Southeast Asian Grocery on Mulberry (its sometimes called tamarind skin). The spice store on the S. side of 28th Street between Lex and Park has a specialty of sri lankan food and some so. indian too. Its possible they will have it. Alternatively, the last time I looked there was a grocery store that sells keralan stuff way out near the city line on Hillside Ave (Queens) - the same area where Kerala Kitchen was/is. Its not a large store but they might have it. By the way, I had a similar experience at the Indian Spice Store last week - a repeat of a number of similar experiences over the years where the people in there were weird, suspicious and rude. I usually dont have a hard time operating in a South Asian environment, and they ought to be able to deal with puttering middle aged americans by now, but they couldnt and I won't be back. (I am sure they wont mind!) http://www.flickr.com/photos/binux/874544036/ Fri Jun 26 11:58:40 -0700 2009 4796277 11130 jen kalb 1 4807483 go to jackson heights, and go to the halal butcher on 73rd st between broadway and 37th ave. there is one next door to alauddin sweet meat (closer to broadway) with a ton of imported fish in the back, dried as well as frozen; they keep them in large freezer cases and you give it to the fellas with the band saws in the back and they do their thing. there is usually a crowd and fish prices are all listed by the pound. the place is amazing. if I pass thru, I will try to get the address but it is on 73rd st, between broadway and 37th, closer towards sunnyside and away from corona (in terms of the side of 73rd st). good luck! hope you find what you are looking for, they just might have it! and if not there, there are about 6 other halal butcher shops all clustered around 73rd st ad 37th ave, but that one consistently has a lotta customers. Fri Jun 26 00:39:13 -0700 2009 4793490 12656 bigjeff 2 4808671 Khaamar Baari? Fri Jun 26 10:38:36 -0700 2009 4807483 10496 squid kun 3 4808727 must be, seeing as I put that link in! looking back on the OP, it may be an auxiliary product that these fishmongers would carry since it is used in a lot of seafood dishes; good luck! Fri Jun 26 10:50:43 -0700 2009 4808671 12656 bigjeff 4 4810603 Thanks to all, I will check out these places out of curiosity although when I made the recipe with kokum I wasn't sure it was worth repeating even with the right ingredient. Not knocking the dish in general as I'm a beginner at Indian cooking and the recipe may be off, but it would need so much tweaking that I may move onto something else. LOL @ Jen and her lichens. Don't you love having a mission?? I used to live near Oaktree Road--don't miss the opportunity to have lunch there. Good luck! Sat Jun 27 07:19:20 -0700 2009 4808727 179567 hennybee 5 4859805 went to those JH places and none of the places had it! this is some interesting stuff! but I am noticing kokum now as an ingredient whenever I go to indian stores now. interesting. Tue Jul 14 23:40:14 -0700 2009 4810603 12656 bigjeff 6 4860489 I dug around in all of the bins in each of the major Jackson Hts and Little India groceries looking for my dagad phool and other things. With the exception of the store on 28th with its sri lankan stuff these basically cater to punjabi/bengali populations. I also searched in the Subzi Mandi stores in Parsippany ( somewhat more diverse in their stock) with no luck. finally, last Friday I went down to Oak Tree Road, no luck at any Patel Brothers, Subzi Mandi, Dani at all - as a last stab I went to Bhavani Cash and Carry and struck gold, a nice clean clearly labelled bag of Dagad Phool! The store was bright and clean and clearly caterered to a customer base from S and W of India - it was also notable for its selection of clearly marked regional chillies from the south. I t was also relatively empty - this is a very competitive market and I have the feeling that the locals shop mainly on price and that the rice may be a little pricier at Bhavani (its a chain and also a distributor) than at the other major supermarkets, but I was really glad to find this store Didnt look for the fish tamarind at Bhavani, tho I didnt see it at any of the stores I did paw through.. Id still recommend looking at the sri lankan places for this. Wed Jul 15 07:58:01 -0700 2009 4859805 11130 jen kalb 7 4860712 thanks for the intel and your hard work there! Wed Jul 15 09:01:11 -0700 2009 4860489 12656 bigjeff 8 4860857 now lets see how soon I cook a single dish with my various garcinias - the white AND black kokum, the similar "tamarind skin" (asam gelugor) also searched out diligently, not to mention the dagad phool. These searches do take on a life of their own. Wed Jul 15 09:46:01 -0700 2009 4860712 11130 jen kalb 7 5095486 I know all too well about searching high and low for ingredients (sometimes long after I've lost interest in the original dish! lol) but for those of us without cars, I thought I'd mention that 3 months later, I happened to come across dagad phool at Patel Bros this afternoon. They didn't used to have it but I guess enough people have asked that they got it in! (It's back in the small alcove in with the packaged spice mixes, etc.) Sun Oct 11 14:56:36 -0700 2009 4860489 11980 MikeG 7 5101511 Next mission: Real asafoetida, not that diluted compounded crap. Last time I scored the real stuff was in Varanasi. I had to have a pundit friend scope out all the spice shops for the real deal (even in India, there's a lot of fake devil's dung). It took two days and US$100/kg (! that's a ton of loot in India and trust me, that's the local rate !) to score some primo stuff from Afghanistan. But oh man, you can smell this dung from two blocks away. Smells like heaven. Tue Oct 13 21:34:00 -0700 2009 4860489 13402 Joe MacBu