Vishal International Supermarket
The mingled scents of incense and Indian spices greet customers when they walk through the door of Vishal International Supermarket, emphasizing that this is no ordinary grocery store. From boxed lychee juice to fresh jack fruit, sliced sour bamboo shoots and coconut powder, the store on Euclid Avenue offers some eye-catching ingredients inspired by traditional cooking from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India. Krishan Sehgal opened the specialty supermarket in 2001 near the University of Kentucky's campus. "We have increased our business every year," Sehgal said. "The response has been good-UK has a diverse crowd."
Although he lived in Africa before coming to Kentucky, Sehgal is originally from Delhi, India, and said he enjoys cooking with the spices from that area, many of which are available in his store. In addition to several huge stacks of 20-pound bags of rice and dried beans, the supermarket is truly a one-stop shop for the Indian food lover. Traditional cooking utensils like stone mortar and pestle sets and large flat woks, called "tawas," line the shelves. Sehgal gives out free recipe cards and his own cooking advice to help beginners put the food they buy at Vishal to good use.
The supermarket also stocks two refrigerated cases of fresh produce specific to Indian dishes. Exotic fruits and vegetables like green mango, Indian bitter melon, papaya, fresh curry leaves, and baby eggplant are staples at Vishal. Sehgal runs the cash register himself much of the time and said he is happy to help customers find what they're looking for. Presenting some authentic options for ethnic cooking, Vishal International Supermarket has been adding a unique flavor to Lexington for over six years. "It was a big change when I came to Lexington, but I have grown with the city," Sehgal said.
Nana's African Caribbean Market
Brightly colored flags from 52 countries line the back wall of Nana's African Caribbean Supermarket, and owner Nannette Turkson says she's had a customer from each one of them. Originally from Ghana, West Africa, Turkson came to the U.S. in 1995. She moved to the Lexington area 10 years ago and opened her own store. "I realized that you had to go to Frankfort or Ohio to get ingredients for this kind of cooking, and I thought I would do something that could cater to the people here," she said. Aside from a wide variety of customers from around the world, the store also serves plenty of Lexingtonians who have visited Africa or the Caribbean and want to recreate some of the native dishes they encountered during their travels.
Much of the food Nana supplies can't be found in an average American supermarket. Dozens of different spices, jerk seasonings, and Caribbean barbecue mixes line shelves by the entrance. The supermarket also stocks fresh fruits and vegetables, like plantains, cocoyams, and sweet potatoes. Cans of coconut milk, palm oil, aubergines, and guava jelly stand next to refrigerated containers of smoked fish, ground Crayfish, and huge slabs of goat meat from Australia. Unique flours for baking range from corn meal to Haitian Plantain flour to Koko flour from Ghana. Traditional mortar and pestle sets with wide wooden bowls help customers to cook authentic food with regional ingredients.
Turkson says her favorite product is the Grapefruit Ting, a fruit juice made with real fruit and cane sugar, which gives it a completely different taste. She also likes the selection of glass-bottle sodas in exotic flavors like banana, guava, and pineapple. In addition to cooking supplies, the market sells DVDs and artwork from the region, including painted wooden carvings from Ghana. Nana's African Caribbean Supermarket is in the Eastland Shopping Center off Winchester Road.