In this guide
Quick answer
More people search for the badam rate in Indore than in almost any other city of its size, and anyone who has stood in Sitlamata Bazaar knows why. Dry fruit is bought here by the kilo, by households who ask the rate each week and notice when it moves.
What is the badam rate today?
At our counter badam works out to at today's shop rate across the grades we keep, read off the shop as this page loads rather than typed in and left to go stale. Mamra, which is a different almond rather than a better grade of the same one, runs at today's shop rate.
We ship one rate across India, so the figure above is the figure in Indore, in Delhi and in Kochi. What differs between cities is what a local shop adds to it, not what the almond costs.
Why does a bazaar rate look lower than an online one?
| What you are quoted | What is in the figure |
|---|---|
| A loose mandi rate | The almond, unsorted, uncounted, unpacked |
| A shop counter rate | Sorted to a grade, weighed in front of you |
| A packed shop rate | Graded, sealed, dated, delivered |
A loose rate is almost always lower and almost never comparable. What a kilo of unsorted almond gives you is a mix of counts, some small, some broken, and the sorting you did not pay for is the sorting you do yourself at the kitchen table. For cooking that is fine. For a jar of morning almonds it is not what most people had in mind.
Which grade should an Indore household buy?
Two jars rather than one, which is what most careful buyers here already do.
- The everyday count for soaking overnight, for milk and for cooking. It is the bigger share of the month’s order and the cheaper of the two.
- The large whole grade for a gift box or a tray, where size reads across a table and a small almond does not.
- Mamra only if you specifically want it. It is a different almond — rounder, oilier, costlier — and buying it for everyday soaking is the commonest way to overspend on this shelf.
The difference between those is set out properly in the comparison of mamra and californian almonds, which is worth five minutes before a large order.
There is a third thing worth asking about in this city, where a lot of almond is still sold loose: whether it has been treated. Almonds are sometimes polished or oiled to look brighter on an open sack, which adds nothing and makes an old nut look new. A good almond is matt rather than shiny, and a sack that gleams in the afternoon sun is worth a second question.
Does the rate change by season in Indore?
It changes, but not for any reason local to the city. Almonds are mostly imported, so what moves the rate is the import price and the duty on it, and those move without warning rather than on a calendar. The one predictable climb is the six weeks before Diwali, when gift demand pulls the large whole grades first and the rate follows.
The practical consequence for a household here is simple: buy the gift grades early and the everyday grade whenever you run out. There is no month in which the everyday count is dramatically cheaper, and holding six months of almonds in an Indore summer is a good way to turn them.
Is it worth ordering online rather than from the bazaar?
It depends what you are buying. For a kilo of loose almond for the kitchen, a bazaar you trust is hard to beat on rate and you can see what you are getting. For a graded count, a sealed pack with a date on it, or anything going into a gift, the arithmetic changes — and our orders start at ₹1,000 and every order ships free, so there is nothing added at the end.
Either way, ask for the grade before comparing two figures. Today’s badam figures pack by pack are on the badam price page, what else we ship to the city is on the Indore page, and the whole shelf is on the nuts page.
Questions people ask
What is the price of 1 kg badam in Indore?
It depends on the count. The live range for every grade we keep is printed above and read off the shop as this page loads, and it is the same figure everywhere in India.
Is mamra badam worth the extra?
For eating on its own, many people here think so. For soaking, milk and cooking, the ordinary almond does the same job at a much lower rate.
Why is the loose rate in the bazaar lower?
Because loose almond is unsorted. You are buying a mix of counts and doing the grading yourself, which is a fair trade if that is what you wanted.
When is badam cheapest?
There is no reliable cheap month, as the rate follows the import price. What is predictable is the climb in the six weeks before Diwali, so gift quantities are worth buying early.
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Written at our counter, where these questions get asked every week.
