Health & Herbal

This is the shelf most Indian households keep stocked without thinking about it — a jar of chyawanprash, a bottle of honey, a packet of isabgol, a strip of Hajmola in the handbag and a small tin of balm in the drawer. GoDirect carries that shelf for same-day delivery across the Greater Toronto Area, so you can restock the familiar names in the same order as your groceries.

Single-herb powders are the core of the range. VFC stocks amla (the Indian gooseberry), shikakai, aritha (reetha or soapnut), triphala, ashwagandha, brahmi leaf, maha bhringraj, jamun (the Indian black plum), karela (bitter gourd), moringa (sahjan or drumstick, an everyday plant in Tamil Nadu and Bihar kitchens alike) and multani mitti, the fine clay known in English as fuller's earth. There is also VFC Organic Henna Powder and VFC Organic Indigo Powder for colouring hair at home, and Aman's Neem Powder alongside them. Shikakai and aritha are the two powders long mixed into a paste for washing hair in Indian homes, and multani mitti is the one that comes out at a haldi, mixed into an ubtan before a Punjabi or Rajasthani wedding.

The tablet and churna side carries Himalaya in Ashwagandha, Brahmi, Triphala, Arjuna, Karela and Mentat, Dabur Sitopaladi Churna and Kayam Churna Tablet, and Hamdard Isabgol and Sat Isabgol — isabgol being psyllium husk, the fine white husk stirred into a glass of water or milk at night in a lot of North Indian homes. Dabur Chyawanprash is the dark amla-based preserve taken by the spoonful, most often through the winter months, and Dabur Hajmola comes in Regular and Imli, the tangy little tablet passed around after a heavy meal.

Honey, lozenges and the balm tin round it out: Dabur Honey, Casablanca Original Honey and Clarite Honey (Ontario Grade 1), Dabur Honitus Ginger Lozenges and Dabur Honitus Honey Lozenges, Eno in Lemon, Orange and Regular along with Eno Chewy Bites and Eno Chewy Bites Oranges, Vicks Vaporub and the Vicks Inhaler Keychain — two names that have lived in the same bedroom drawer in Indian homes for decades — and Tiger Ointment - White. The aisle also stocks everyday personal care: Always pads in Classic Normal Size 1, Classic Maxi Super Size 2, Classic Night Size 3 and Maxi Night Size 4.

Pack sizes suit both trying something once and keeping it in the pantry: powders and pastes in 15 g, 18.4 g, 60 g, 100 g, 200 g, 500 g and 1 kg, liquids in 25 ml, and counted packs of 6, 8, 9 and 10 pieces. Keep herbal powders in airtight jars away from heat and moisture, exactly as you would your spices, and close honey tightly — if it crystallises in the jar, that is normal for real honey and it will loosen again in a bowl of warm water.