How to find Indian food in Aarhus

Indians are famously known to take their kitchen along when they move abroad, and I was no exception! However, the check-in baggage allowance only allowed me to bring so much along when I moved to Aarhus from Bangalore. I am a passionate cook and call myself an absolute gastronome. One of my objectives when moving to Europe was to cook with locally sourced ingredients, experiment with the wide variety of cuisines, and learn about different dishes from my international friends. However, I knew that even with all the experimenting, I would still be unable to abstain from consuming Indian food. One week after arriving to Aarhus, I began my search for Indian ingredients. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to source Indian ingredients and with the choice of restaurants across the city.

The choice of Indian restaurants, as you can see, are plentiful in Aarhus, and the prices are competitive too. However, I do find them expensive if I would have to eat out every night. Occasional visits to the restaurants are enjoyable but otherwise, I always preferred to cook meals in a well-equipped shared kitchen in my dorm. It worked out a lot cheaper to cook by myself with all the ingredients. One would think sourcing ingredients could be a task. However, that has never been an issue. Østens Specialiteter near the train station, the Asian Food Store in Bazaar Vest and the vegetable market within Bazaar Vest offered almost every item I would need to cook my meals. From atta for chapathi to mango pickle, all varieties of dal and rice to asafoetida, the many different masala powders - these stores have it all. I could even find jackfruit, raw banana, okra (bhindi) and bittergourd at the vegetable market in Bazaar Vest! This is the place to get the flavorsome green chillies too. When you go shopping in these stores, make sure to carry an airtight container as they also offer fresh Jamoon, Jalebi, Rasgulla and Samosa.

One of the first things that amused me upon my arrival in my dorm was how much my Danish roommates used turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder, cinnamon and ‘curry powder.’ Having explored all supermarkets in the past year, I found that Super Brugsen and Coop365 have more options when it comes to Indian ingredients. They store dal (masoor and toor), channa (chickpeas), rajma (red and black beans), rice (jasmine, basmati, parboiled), and almost all the spices. Sometimes you might even find ready-to-eat chicken curry and fish curry meal boxes. The tortilla wraps available across all supermarkets are a good replacement for chapathi or roti.