Food products preferred in USA

Food products preferred in USA:


Let us share some of our favourite/preferred products that we buy from the stores here in USA.

It could be groceries, snacks, fruits, veggies, dairy products etc. This includes the products we buy from the Indian grocery and the American stores.

Please also specify their brand name and the price range so that others can also give it a try if they want.

Meat lovers - please share your choice for purchasing the best cuts and the stores too!

Since I am a vegetarian- (children and Hubby eat eggs)

Here goes my list for now…will add more later….


Indian groceries-

Rice- Sona masoori/Raw rice- Laxmi brand
Kohinoor Basmathi Rice
Idli rice- laxmi brand
Enriched long grain rice- Costco
Atta- Chapathi flour- Aashirwad atta
Rice flour - Laxmi brand
Sooji (Rava)- Laxmi brand
Semolina- white- bambino- this is way better than the roasted ones-gives udhir udhir upma all the time


All the dhals- Tur dhal, gram dhal, urad gota, urad dhal,moong dhal etc- Laxmi/ Deep brand. Also the Patel Brand from NJ is good.

Frozen drumstick, frozen surti papdi lilva- all laxmi brands
For all the spices- Laxmi/deep brands are good.
Snacks- Chakali, Amma’s Madras/Kerala Mixture
Pickles- Udipi brand/Mother’s pickle/Grandma’s

From the american stores-

Cereals- Honey bunches of oats with almonds- double pack- $6.05 -Costco
Bread- Shepherd’s bread from Trader Joe’s- $2.49- very tasty and good for sandwiches.
Pizza dough- Garlic Herb Pizza dough & Plain pizza dough- 99 cents each- Trader Joe’s
Pasta- Fusili- from Trader Joe‘s- 99cents
Linguine Garlic Basil Pasta- $1.99 - from TJ (Trader Joe's)
Organic Pasta- tricolor radiatore- $1.99 - from TJ
Shredded carrots- Trader Joe‘s- $1.99
Organic Brocoli- from Trader Joe’s
Frozen petite peas- Trader Joe‘s- $1.29
Frozen spinach- Trader Joe‘s-
Garbanzo beans (Chickpeas) in cans- 89cents each - again Trader Joe’s
Olive oil- Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil- Filippo Berio - Costco
Mazola Oil -Costco
Butter- Unsalted butter- good quality from Trader Joe’s and Costco -this is excellent for making home-made Ghee
Coffee Powder- Kirkland Dark roast- closest taste to our South Indian filter coffee
Almonds- 3lb packet from Costco- $9.79
Sliced Almonds- Trader Joe‘s - $2.69
Raw cashews- Trader Joe’s
Unsalted Pistachios- Trader Joe’s
Eggs- Organic eggs from Trader Joe’s or Egg lands best from Walmart
Ruffled veggie chips from Trader Joe‘s- $1.99

Recently, I found these chips that are too good..
Rice works Gourmet Brown Rice Crisp- Sea salt-454g- $4.59 -COSTCO- They taste almost like the thattai we make at home (in South India). Very crunchy with the sesame seeds and rice on top. Yummy!!
All natural pop chips-salt & pepper potato chips- never fried. Never baked. -311g- $4.99- Again from Costco

Ladies, please jump in and share your preferences too!!

This will greatly benefit people who are new to this country. It will be a quick guide for them to shop in Indian & American groceries.

wow Krithika the list is extensive...Will keep it as a reference guide.You have covered almost everything.Will comeup if anything strikes
Thanks dear for the list

Thanks ammukutty! Was not sure whether I've covered all the items.

Do add more when you think of anything else please!

Cheers
Krithika

Wow your list is cool. I pretty much buy the same indian stuf.

Ghee-Amul.
Pickles- 555 brand..Really tasty gongura and avakkai.2.99 per bottle

Rice- Enriched long grain from bj's

Have any of you tried pepper ridge farm puff pastry sheets? You can make a nice filling and bake in the oven for 15 min. It comes out just like puffs in our bakerys in india.. It costs aroung $5 for a box. Can make about 10-12 puffs. You get it in the frozen food section in walmart.

Ranjoose, thanks for adding to the list dear! Will definitely try the Gongura pickle as it is one of my favourites.

And yes, I've used the Pepperridge farm puff pastry sheets and shells. They are too good...

Infact, I've given the Veggie Puff recipe under the Miscellaneous recipe section in the 'Tiffins' thread. Here is the link from Page 4-

Tiffins

In Page 7, I've given the step by step pics also...please have a look...

Tiffins

Tiffins

Cheers
Krithika

Hey krithika,
Thank you so much for the links..Now i can make better use of the packet by making 18 puffs

You are most welcome ranjoose! We can also change to any shape we want...like square, triangle, circle etc. Have fun!! :)

Wow.. That was a good list of items. I haven't tried few. i'll try it too.

My Favs :
Indian Store :
Chekaralu - Very tasty snack . very good like mullu murukku of tamilnadu.
Jaljeera mix - for some occasional jaljeera drink
MTR puliyogare, MTR Bisibele bath masala (powder . I dont like the paste).
Swad pani puri concentrate
and i buy the golgappa seperately.
Haldiram Chaipuri - it tastes like those Maratti snack called -Matti.
Pakola IceCream Sode ( i think this is the brand name,not sure)- This is the typical paneer soda of tamil nadu. its amazing.
Lychee juice -this is also good.
Mango sauce (its high calorie ladies. so buy it only for parties/desserts).

CostCo :
Mixed flavors of Quacker quick meal oats packets.
Frozen Spinach ravioli - for some italian dinner.
Pitted Black Dates

Walmart :
tortino's pizza rolls - I dont buy this regularly. but its so damn tasty for an evening snack.
Ritz salt biscuits - i make some topping or dip for these. they taste same as monaco biscuits.
Haagen Dazs Ice cream.
MrsButterworth pancacke syrup
Dried Figs - a regular item in my grocery list. I read somewher its good for anemic problem.

gosh ! we eat a lot of snacks..

By the way does any one know if "Small Onions" are available anywhere in US ?
I know it is called Shallots in english. I search for it everywhere.
And can someone post how to use the artichoke. I have some dip recipe, but i dont know how to cut/use it.

Hi krithika,
Informative thread.I will come back after checking the prices.

Ranchu: There are two type of small onions- white and red- its called shallots and pearl onion respectively.both are available in walmart.

Hi Ranchu,

Thanks a lot! That was another wonderful addition to the list.

As for your question, yes small onions are available. They are named 100% pearl onions and I usually get them from the Indian stores here. The price is around $2.99 per packet.

Frozen small onions are also available in the Indian& american stores, but somehow, I didn't like them. Always prefer these fresh ones that I get in the Indian stores.

And no, Shallots are not the pearl onions. They are slightly bigger than pearl onions but smaller than regular onions.

These small onions are available in white and pink colours. Usually, I buy the pink ones.