About Us

In Your Neighborhood, Around the World

Overhead shot of a wooden table, covered in spices and tea leaves, some in bowls and mortar and pestles of various sizes.

In the 80’s, my parents opened one of the first Indian grocery stores in Nashville and called it Suraj Imports, named after my grandmother Suraj. Nearly 40 years later, I am following in their footsteps with Suraj Spices & Teas, a shop filled to the brim with spices, teas, salts, tiny bottles, fun gadgets, and interesting ingredients. As a neighborhood shop, we celebrate the cultures and cuisines of the many neighborhoods that come together to create Nashville - from Turkish Urfa Biber to Chinese green teas, Ethiopian Berbere to Vietnamese cinnamon, and of course my family’s chai masala blend. Dishes from around the globe are being cooked in your neighbor’s kitchen, sometimes using the same ingredient in wildly different ways. With this idea we opened our doors, to connect with people over food, sharing recipes and discovering new ingredients and commonalities together.
Stop by and discover the global in your local.
~Aarika