From turmeric and nutmeg to sadhakuppai (a type of cumin seed) and sajeera (caraway seeds), spices are common ingredients used to enhance flavour in Asian cooking. Since the 1960s, Thandapani Co has been stocking a wide variety of spices, including those rarely found in local supermarkets, as well as signature house mixes for popular Indian dishes.
Thandapani Co was founded by Sanmugam, who came to Singapore in 1946 and worked at his uncle’s shop in Little India, before starting a spice business in Little India Arcade in the 1960s. Named after Sanmugam’s favourite Hindu deity, Thandapani Co focused on selling spices until the 1970s, when it relocated to Campbell Lane and bought over Valli Flour Mills. This enabled Sanmugam to offer spice grinding and spice mixes based on his own recipes, and these recipes have remained popular with home chefs and restaurants in Little India.
