MOSCOW, RUSSIA, September 20, 2019 (The Moscow Times): When Ponnuchamy Jeevanantham first came to Moscow from Tamil Nadu in southern India in 1987 to study agriculture at the Peoples’ Friendship University he was dismayed by how mild Russian food was compared to Indian cuisine. “You couldn’t find any spices,” he said. “There were bay leaves, black pepper and maybe some chilli powder — and it wasn’t good chilli powder — that was all.” His fellow Indian students — there were many because an agreement with the Soviet Union had made university education free for students from developing countries — made do with what they could find. Anyone who went home for a visit brought back a suitcase full of curry powder, garam masala and turmeric to give out to friends.
After graduating, Jeevanantham decided to make a business out of the demand. In 1991, using money he had saved while working during the holidays, he opened the first Indiiskiye spetsi — Indian Spices — shop in a 10-square-meter space in the university. For a long time, it was the only place to buy Asian spices and products in Russia, and his customers were people from all over Asia and Africa who lived in the country. But Russians’ tastes have changed. Today, there are seven branches of Indian Spices in Moscow, one in St. Petersburg and another in Tver. Jeevanantham now imports products in 20-foot containers from India, Sri Lanka, England and China, and supplies spices for most of Moscow’s Indian restaurants. He estimates a 50-50 split in customers between Russians and foreigners.
Read more at “source” above, and for reviews of Indian restaurants in Moscow, click https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/09/20/where-indians-eat-indian-food-in-moscow-a67377