Individual spice shops have a distinct identity

It is nothing short of a cultural miracle - where you cross the threshold and step into another country, like the Spice Bazaar that springs to life on the pages of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's book The Mistress of Spices. These are the ethnic grocery stores fringing the alleys of busy streets, that promise some a fleeting journey into the land of their childhood. Others, who have no intersect with this culture from their past, marvel at the exotic and strange, wonderful wares on display.
Most of us are familiar with UAE's souqs. Narrow alleyways hugging never ending rows of quaint shops at either end, selling anything from gold, spices, textiles to traditional medicines and oils. The wares include exotic products that have travelled all the way from diverse, far-flung lands - Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, China, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
However, the individual spice shops have a distinct identity, that of a particular country and they provide a different cultural experience. With the free swing of the door, you step into another country.into a different space and time. with a treasure trove of spices, flours, ethnic beauty products and other strange concoctions minus the heat and dust and ritual haggling with vendors.
Last week I visited one and was awestruck by the wave of nostalgia that caught me unawares - the tiny retail space yielded familiar sights and smells straight from childhood, and I had to only close my eyes and breathe in, to time travel to a distant far off land! Rows and rows of aromatic spices, pickles and savouries of local brands long forgotten now come to the fore as you walk around the alleys between shelves, where dusty memories lie resplendent, waiting to be awakened from deep slumber.
Flour and varied grains, jars of dried beans of different colours and shapes galore, exotic fish, meat and accompanying regional marinades, spices ground fine and bursting with untold flavours - all wait in there to be picked up, to create cultural magic in some expat kitchen and lovingly undergo a culinary metamorphosis into ethnic delicacies. For me, it served as a reminder of love so pure and true - and a million miles away from the fast food culture of present times.
I was on a fervent treasure hunt and halted in front of the might four - shikakai, reetha, amla and kali mehendi - the very ingredients that my google search had yielded as a panacea for long flowing silky hair! There they were, sitting primly in a neat row. The proximity they shared on the shelf, a testament to the age-old wisdom that vouched for their collaborative power to restore skin glow and hair growth together with a zillion other beauty benefits!
I looked around to see an old lady requesting for a smaller version of the beans that she held in her cupped palm. Her eyes sparkled with excitement, desperate to get it right. As I gazed at her timeworn face scrutinising the closely held sample in her hand, I thought of her lovingly cooking up a treasured dish for her family.
Apart from edibles and kitchen essentials, these shops also stock specific kitchenware, festival paraphernalia, and traditional medicinal oils among others to add to the convenience of expat life in the Emirates.
Priceless and magical. there couldn't be a better phrase to describe this place! These ethnic shops tucked away in a little corner of a foreign world provide a window into a country's culture - its gustatory, religious and scientific heritage. They are indeed a cultural miracle, a precious offering to those who have wandered too far from home and loved ones. So, next time you get tired of shopping mall treks, step into one of these and lose yourself in the labyrinthine ways of a culture.
Dr Bhavana Koliyot is a corporate communications professional based in Dubai
If you could buy only three, which would you pick?
Pomegranate molasses
Dried rose buds
Lavender buds
Oils: argan, eucalyptus, cardamom
Rose water
Assorted curry powder
Dried herbs: tarragon, caraway, oregano
Saffron
Vanilla beans
Whole spices
Dried beans, berries, nuts, fruit
Pickles
Sweets, chocolates
Varieties of tea and coffee
Dried fish

• Dubai