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Spices of Unjha

A north Gujarat town with a major market for cumin, fennel and other seed spices.

Traded and grown here

CuminFennelCoriander

Best time: February to April, when the winter crop is harvested and sold.

Unjha is a market town in north Gujarat. It is known for a large agricultural produce market that handles cumin, fennel, isabgol and other seed crops grown in the dry plains of Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Unjha - Gujarat, India
Photo: Emmanuel DYAN, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Spices and trade

Cumin and fennel are the key spices here, traded in large lots by auction. Traders clean, grade and pack the seed, and much of it is sold on to other parts of India or exported.

The place and its people

The market runs on the farming calendar, with arrivals peaking after the winter harvest. Trade families and brokers have long worked the yard, and the town is a place for the business rather than for tourism.

Visiting

Unjha is not a visitor destination in the usual sense, but the market is worth a call for anyone interested in the seed spice trade. Ask permission at the yard office.

A trail idea for Unjha

  1. The market yard See cumin and fennel sold by auction in season.
  2. A cleaning and grading unit Look at how seed is sieved and sorted.
  3. Umiya Mata temple The temple nearby is an important local site.
  4. A Gujarati thali Eat a local meal where fennel and cumin season the dishes.
About this page

Written by the EveryMasala desk with AI assistance. Background: "Unjha" on Wikipedia. Opening hours, markets and tours change; check locally before travelling. If something is wrong, tell us.

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