Where to Buy Indian Groceries & Spices in Edinburgh - Complete Guide

Every Indian living in Scotland knows the craving for home food. Whether you are a student on a tight budget, a family cooking daily meals, or a visitor stocking an Airbnb kitchen, knowing where to buy Indian groceries in Edinburgh makes all the difference. I have checked every shop and delivery service below against current listings - one name that used to appear in this guide, Akash Foods on Leith Walk, could not be verified anywhere and has been dropped rather than repeated on faith. Here is exactly where to go instead.

Krishna Foods is the biggest and most complete Indian grocery store in Edinburgh, open daily from 10am to 9:30pm (phone 0131 313 1199 to check stock before a special trip). Take bus 2, 3, or 25 from Princes Street towards Gorgie. They stock a wide spice range including MDH and Everest brands, a full aisle of dal and lentils, fresh vegetables including okra, bitter gourd, drumsticks, curry leaves, and fenugreek, frozen parathas and samosas, idli and dosa batter, a large basmati rice selection, a dedicated sweets counter, fresh meat, and Maggi in most flavours. If you only visit one Indian shop in Edinburgh, make it this one.

Spice of Asia, a few minutes from Krishna Foods on the same road, is a genuinely large world food supermarket - over 10,000 items covering Indian, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, and Nepalese groceries, with a halal butchery section on site. It is the better stop if Krishna Foods does not have something specific in stock, or if you want to compare prices on packaged goods.

Janatha Food Store, 34-36 Montrose Terrace (EH7 5DL, phone 0131 661 8000), is open 7am to 10pm every day including weekends, which makes it the most convenient option if Krishna Foods and Spice of Asia are already closed. Worth knowing about specifically for its hours rather than its range.

Tesco Extra Corstorphine and Sainsbury's Cameron Toll both carry a 'World Foods' aisle with packaged paneer, ghee, frozen naans, basic spice boxes, and basmati rice at competitive prices. Asda Chesser, near Murrayfield, also stocks a reasonable range of Haldiram's snacks, though stock varies by visit - do not make a special trip on the strength of that claim alone. These supermarkets are convenient if you are doing a weekly shop anyway, but the specialist stores above are consistently better for variety and price on Indian-specific items.

- Fresh paneer: Krishna Foods (roughly £2.50-3.50 for 200g). Supermarket paneer is a bit rubberier but works fine for cooking.
- Ghee: Krishna Foods stocks branded desi ghee alongside cheaper own-label options.
- Yogurt (dahi): a thick Greek-style yogurt from any supermarket is the closest match to Indian dahi.
- Fresh curry leaves: Krishna Foods' freezer section once fresh ones have sold out - frozen curry leaves are a reasonable substitute.
- Indian sweets: Krishna Foods has a dedicated sweets counter - call ahead and ask what is fresh that day, especially around festivals.
- Idli and dosa batter: Krishna Foods is the one Edinburgh Indian grocer confirmed to stock it, based on their own listing.
- Halal meat: Abdul Halal Market, 51-53 Nicolson Street (EH8 9BZ), and Spice of Asia's in-store butchery both carry halal chicken, lamb, and goat - ask for Indian-style cuts. For more halal butchers and a note on what UK halal certification actually means, see our halal food guide.

A few names that used to appear in this section did not hold up under a fact-check: 'Indian Grocery Direct' does not appear to exist as an actual UK service under that name, and Rasa and Natoora are not Indian grocery delivery services at all - Rasa is a South Indian restaurant in London, and Natoora is a premium European greengrocer that explicitly excludes parts of Scotland from its delivery area. I have replaced them with services I could actually verify:
- Veenas: ships spices, staples, snacks, fresh produce, and pooja items across the UK.
- Bombay Basket: UK-wide Indian grocery delivery, free delivery to UK mainland.
- Quality Foods Online: trading since 1981, one of the larger UK Indian/Asian grocery delivery operations, with free next-day delivery above £60.
- Amazon UK's Indian Grocery category: most major packaged brands, usually at a slight premium versus a dedicated Indian grocer.

Order at least a week ahead of any festival date - delivery slots tighten up considerably around Diwali.

Join the Indian Students in Edinburgh group on Facebook - members often coordinate bulk grocery runs to Krishna Foods, splitting a taxi or car and buying spices and rice in bulk, which works out meaningfully cheaper than buying small packets repeatedly. Frozen vegetables (okra, peas, mixed veg) are good quality and last far longer than fresh. Cooking in a group with flatmates saves money on ingredients that are cheaper bought in bulk than in the small quantities one person needs.

Always check expiry dates on packaged Indian imports - some items travel for months before reaching a shelf here. Krishna Foods, Spice of Asia, and Janatha all rotate stock regularly, but it is still worth a quick check, especially on anything you are buying in bulk. For more on settling in Edinburgh as a new arrival, read our Indian student first week guide, and for where to eat out rather than cook, see our Indian restaurants guide.

- Best all-round Indian grocery: Krishna Foods, 233 Gorgie Road - biggest range, open daily 10am-9:30pm
- Best for range / halal butchery: Spice of Asia, 398 Gorgie Road
- Best hours: Janatha Food Store, Montrose Terrace - open 7am-10pm daily
- Halal meat: Abdul Halal Market, Nicolson Street, or see our halal food guide for more options
- Online if you can't get to a shop: Veenas, Bombay Basket, or Quality Foods Online

Need a ride to stock up, or want us to grab an order for you before you land? WhatsApp us or see our taxi and tour services.