Manpasand: After getting several recommendations lately for locations to buy Indian groceries, I finally ventured out today to scope out a few of them. I've recently been intrigued by Indian food after trying a few of Trader Joe's frozen Indian entrees, and I knew that the real thing would be different (and probably much tastier). My first stop was to a market called Taj Mahal Imports, located off Briarcliff Road. From what I read online, they featured a wide variety of Indian goods, including snacks, sweets, frozen foods, and housewares.
Once I found it, I was glad I did. It definitely wasn't like any other market I've been in, and there was a wide array of goods that I'd never seen before. I bought several items, but the GF directed me towards the sweets counter at the front, featuring several types of homemade pastries and candy. I wasn't familiar with any of them, so we picked out a few to take home.
I decided to try the manpasand tonight - from what I've been able to research, it's an Indian candy made from cashews, fig, almond and sugar. These were made locally by a company called Rajbhog (www.rajbhog.com), and Taj Mahal featured several of their products in the sweets counter. The Rajbhog site also mentioned that all their sweets are made with ghee (clarified butter) and fresh milk. Anyway, this treat was super tasty. I can't quite describe what the top and bottom layers tasted like, but it had a sweet, nougat-like consistency - almost like the center of a Baby Ruth. The center reminded me of the filling in a Fig Newton, but much richer. I only bought a couple of these, but I could have easily eaten more. Really good stuff.
I took home a few different varieties of candy and other goods from Taj Mahal, so I'll be blogging about those coming up. If you're interested in Indian goods or culture at all, it's a great market to check out.
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