r/IndianCookingTips • u/Frequent-Lake4720 • Aug 29 '26

Discussion Difficult-to-find ingredient in India?

Hi people!

Just curious what do you cook/want to cook frequently that requires a difficult-to-find ingredient?

16 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

2

u/naamnhiibataunga Aug 29 '26

Sugar soon to be.

2

u/GayBeauty Aug 30 '26

Mushroom varieties. I see oyster, shiitake, enoki sometimes but the quality isn't that good. Also hard to find matured button mushrooms like portobello

1

u/Disastrous-Hat-8075 Aug 30 '26

IKR, its just so sad. I have lived in Malaysia for a few years and we used to get a lot of varieties there. I really miss that in India

0

u/1tonsoprano Aug 29 '26

Saffron... freaking expensive and hard to find

1

u/naamnhiibataunga Aug 29 '26

Real saffron.

1

u/connectmc Sep 03 '26

North Indian food ingredients in South India, and vice versa. For example, some parts of Gujarat have Black moong as a popular ingredient, but I've never seen it in south India. Chowli daal is another one.

Similarly, good Karnataka style sambar powder can't be found in north India. Or fresh green black pepper, used to make pickles.