Spice Trail At Janbazaar Market

Suruchi Tulsyan

Situated in the heart of central Calcutta, Janbazaar Market despite its less-than-impressive appearance is quite a sought-after marketplace by the bawarchis and chefs of various restaurants and diners, in search of the best spices. While the cuisine offered in the city diners may vary from Bengali, Mughlai and Chinese to North Indian and Continental, however, in most cases, the spices are sourced from Janbazaar Market. Irrespective of whether it is a casual joint or fine dining restaurant, when it comes to spices, Janbazaar is a great leveller because you are assured of quality products at unbeatable prices. Located at the crossing of SN Banerjee Road and Rani Rashmoni Road, this market is the Mecca for everything spicy.

The Bazaar
The lane leading inside from the crossing of SN Banerjee Road and Rani Rashmoni Road has about 30 shops that sell every spice that you can think of and at rates lower than your local grocery shop. What’s more, unlike the big modern retail chains, you can actually bargain here for better deals. Be it popular brands like Everest, Cookme and MDH or local ones like Ajanta, New Janta, or Swastik, the market offers large rebates to retail and wholesale customers alike.“On purchasing items worth INR 100, you can expect a discount of INR 7 or 7%.That’s the kind of discounts we offer to our customers,” said Madan Gupta, proprietor of M/s Radheshyam Gupta shop in the market and a member of Janbazaar Merchant Association. His shop is one of the oldest in the market and offers home delivery facilities within 1 km, on a minimum bill of INR 2,000. “There are quite a few wholesale markets for spices in the city. We source our spices from Burabazaar. But the quality of products in those other markets as well as in Burabazaar varies from poor to good. But at Janbazaar, you get only good quality products. We do not keep adulterated or duplicate goods.” he added.

The Market
Most stores selling spices are located at the ground floor of the two-century old Rani Rashmoni Bhawan, while few others are situated on the opposite sidewalk, in and around Futnani Chambers. The buzzing market also has a row of vegetable sellers, right in front of the heritage building.

Approaching from Wellington through SN Banerjee Road, turn left into Rani Rashmoni Road and you will be greeted by heaps of suparis used in making paan and rows of tin-boxes packed with zarda or paan masalas (mouth freshners). There are about seven to eight shops in the market, which specialise in items which are used for preparing paan.

Owners of various paan shops across the city and even from outside visit these wholesale dealers to procure their stock. Sweet colourful mouth fresheners (or saunf), known as ‘supari mixture’, can be bought here at the rate of INR 120-130/kg. These mouth fresheners, along with spices, are procured in large quantities by caterers for wedding parties. Interestingly, these supari shops also offer discounts between INR 10-15 on each box of zarda, weighing 100 gms, whatever be the brand.

Both packaged and loose spices are sold at shops in Janbazaar Market. The price difference in these two categories is quite wide. Also, the price difference between Janbazaar and your local grocery shop is pretty stark. “For example, branded coriander and red chili powders (like Cookme) are available for INR 30/100gm everywhere. But we give it for INR 25,” said Madan Gupta, a shop owner. Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, another shop-owner, gave a detailed price chart highlighting the difference in prices between shops at Janbazaar and other grocery shops elsewhere in the city. “For wholesale, you can get loose items like posto for INR 380/kg (on buying at least 250 gm), coriander and red chili powder for INR 180/kg (on buying at least 500gm), turmeric for INR 160/kg (on buying 500gm), grounded black pepper for INR 1,000/kg (buy 500 gm). Outside, you will get the same for a price tag of additional INR 40/kg at least; Everest’s golmirch powder is available at INR 1,200/kg. Even for brands like MDH dhania, haldi and red chili powders are available for INR 320/kg, INR 220/kg and INR 260/kg respectively at our shop,” he said.

Janbazaar Special
But among all the spices available, Janbazaar‘s claim to fame rests on biryani masala, nihari masala (sold during winters) and chicken & mutton chaap masala. “Janbazaar is popular for these masalas. These spice mixes lend an exceptionally fresh and aromatic flavour to your dishes which you will not get by using the ready-made masalas sold by various reputable brands (like Everest and MDH),” claimed Madan Gupta confidently. While the biryani masala (at INR 25/20gm) is made by combining about 11 different spices, nihari (INR 50/50 gm) has 35-40 items and the chaap masalas (INR 30/32gm) comprise 13-14 spices. “We learnt about the correct proportion of various items from the bawarchis visiting our shops. The items are meant to be grounded just before the cooking is done. This keeps their taste fresh and results in mouth-watering recipes,” added Madan Gupta.

History & Trade
Intriguingly, almost all shopkeepers in Janbazaar are from Bihar, many hail from Gaya district and surprisingly most are Guptas. “We are the third generation in our family to manage the shop. My grandfather Lakshman Shaw started this shop here more than 50 years ago,” said Ashwin Kumar Gupta. Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, whose father BK Gupta is the manufacturer of Jai

Ganesh brand of spices in Janbazaar and is one of the senior-most sellers in the market now, shared an interesting anecdote about the market. “My grandfather Radheshyam Gupta told us that he had closed his shop when the Second World War broke out and went back to his village. When he returned after the war, the stock he had left behind worth INR 50 at that time had soared to INR 500, due to post war inflation.” While most sellers in the market have managed their business for generations, no one knows exactly when the first shop opened. They suggest, it was in late-1930s or early-1940s that the market started coming up. “About 30 years ago the sellers formed Janbazaar Merchant Association to tackle the menace of donation during Durga Puja. Since then, this problem has been solved, and now the association itself undertakes welfare activities,” said Madan Gupta, who has been managing his shop for about 40 years now. Shops in this market open around 8 AM and conclude business around 9 PM.

Changing Times
Janbazaar once had a reputation of being the finest spice markets in the city. But the growing availability of spices at grocery shops around the city and the demand of customers around Janbazaar to offer other grocery items too have helped this market evolve. Thus, alongside spices, here one can buy the entire range of kitchen products required in a household. “The trend changed as the demand changed in the last 20-25 years. We have started giving retail customers almost equal discount as offered to the wholesalers. Now, under one roof, you will get dry fruits, oil, ghee, spices, stationary, tea and milk powder too, all at company rates, below the MRP,” said Amarnath Shaw, a member of Janbazaar Merchant Association.