Herbs, spices-the great supermarket rip off

[ceeveebee]

Oh my. I have just realised that I have been overpaying for herbs, spices, curry paste, noodles etc for my whole life.

I popped into a thai supermarket which is walking distance from my house and bought:
100g of each of ground cumin, fennel seeds, garam masala, black peppercorns.
50g cinnamon sticks
2 tins of coconut milk
Laksa paste
Nasi goreng paste
4 portions of ready-to-cook noodles
4 red chilis
Massive bunch of fresh coriander
3 large garlic cloves

And all this cost me £13!!!!

I have just priced these up on ocado and it came to £35!!!!

I couLd have saved ££££s over the years!

yep, I used to buy my herbs and spices from my town's indoor market - half the price of the supermarket. I cant get there much now but supermarket is hopeless sometimes.

I get mine from Indian supermarket round the corner, however if I need to buy in Sainsbury's or Waitrose I always go to 'world foods' aisle. They both sell the tiny rip off jars in their own section, but in the 'world foods' bit you get bigger, cheaper packs, and also cheaper tins of chick peas etc.

Blimey - that's a huge difference. They never all get used anyway

yup....the chinese supermarket is my most favourite place! and supermarkets are robbing bastards!!

I use 2 Asian supermarkets in the city for lots of stuff. I can even get a 5l bottle of clear vinegar there which is great for cleaning and using instead of fabric softener in the laundrey.

Also, it's extermely handy to get large packs of spices when you want to make things like mulled wine spices sachets for Christmas presents - and you need the basic ingredients in bulk!!

I usually buy fresh herbs at the supermarket when they have been reduced down to 10p or less, at around 7pm onwards. I then freeze them & just snip off a bit when I need it. Occasionally, I have also found pots of growing herbs such as basil, parsley & coriander for about 40p, so I pop those in water when I get home & they last a couple of months.

If you happen to be holidaying in France, their supermarkets are also well worth checking out for herbs commonly used in their cooking, as I have found they sell massive tubs of dried herbs which are cheaper. Olive oil is also usually well-priced there (and decent coffee )

99p for a packet of seeds, pots I already had and another £1 for a bag of compost. We have more basil growing on the window slls than we know what to do with!

Oh yes! Indian and Asian grocers have everything you need in double the quantities for less than half the price. Worth the trip.

Never buy anything like coriander or cumin seeds at the supermarket - or lime leaves. It's £1.20 for 5 leaves in the supermarket and the same for a big bag in a Thai foodstore.

Speak for yourself EdSilly - I use them every week :)

Completely agree. I buy my spices at the local Indian spice shop and pick up (for example) 500g of cumin for about £4. You'd pay that for 25g in one of those silly little packets at the supermarket.