Exploring India - In Your Own Backyard
A few months ago, I published a piece through an online blog titled Go Galavanting - a travel website for women. I enjoyed doing the research for the piece since it involved traveling to all my favorite Desi spots in the Tri-State area. But it’s a shame that the finished product is now lost among those countless sites, when it can be right here with me at all times. So, I am publishing it on HUEA and hope you’ll enjoy it. Follow it through and do visit these spots, just in time for Diwali - the Festival of Lights! The holiday this year falls on the 28th of October.
Those who know me have come to understand that hardly a conversation can go by without my mentioning India in some way, shape or form. I love the country, I adore the people, I admire the clothing and absolutely crave the food. I also live in NYC, which short of renting an overpriced flat in an overcrowded neighborhood of the sometimes infuriating city of Bombay (AKA Mumbai these days) is the closest I can get to actually living in India. You see, within 35 miles of NYC there isn’t just one, but count them THREE Indian neighborhoods, and I’m not even including Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn, where a splash of Pakistani culture can be found. As some of you may already know, before Partition (think Gandhi, the British Empire and that damned “Salt Tax” incident) happened in 1947, those two countries - India and Pakistan - were just one. And when transplanted in foreign countries, the cultures often blend and loose their borders. But I digress.
CURRY HILL - MANHATTAN
Because I live in Manhattan, the closest Indian spot to me is the area appropriately named “Curry Hill”. The moniker is a play on words mixing the names of adjoining neighborhood Murray Hill and the worldrenowned Indian spice. Speaking of spices, no visit to Curry Hill - located on Lexington Avenue in the high 20s - can even begin before a visit to gourmet shop Kalustyan’s. A walk down their fragrant aisles will have you hooked and ready to start cooking, using all kinds of ingredients you never even knew existed before. But luckily, a lot of the foods that I like to fill my shopping basket with are ready-made, or require a quick reheating at best. Visit the back fridge section and don’t leave Kalustyan’s without a jar of their famous Mixed Pickle - a spicy, preserved mixture of vegetables and spices which goes amazingly well with a bowl of plain rice and yogurt, on a lazy summer day. But Pickle is at its best when eaten with Parathas - Punjabi flat breads that come plain or filled with potato and other veggies - or Teplas - their Gujarati counterpart - plus a great thick yogurt, like Labneh cheese from Lebanon.
Once you have finished with Kalustyan’s and their goodies, do check out the video shop across the street, aptly named Sangeet House - “sangeet” is the Hindi word for music. The lovely Shiva upstairs will help you stock up on all the latest and greatest Bollywood hits. If you are just starting out and are thinking of dipping your toes into the lavish extravaganza that are the films of this industry made in Bombay, do start with “Fanaa” - Destroyed in Love - or “Om Shaanti Om”, the latter starring Indian superstar supreme Shah Rukh Khan. If you doubt his fame, his nickname is “King Khan”! Sangeet House also offers great music CDs of classic Indian and Pakistani composers and singers, as well as all the movie fan magazines from Bombay. And Shiva will even make you a nice Paan - a betel leaf wrapped around various spices and pastes - to help you digest the great meal you are about to have… Yes, of course, onward to more food!
Literally next door to Sangeet House is my favorite Indian restaurant in Curry Hill, Chinese Mirch. “WHAT? Chinese, but I thought you said Indian?!” I can hear you all collectively mumbling at the computer. Chinese Mirch is a favorite of mine exactly because it is so different from those typical Indian restaurants serving tandoori chicken legs dyed bright red and veggies drowning in heavy sauces. Indo-Chinese food is a great Bombay delicacy and has a completely different taste from your neighborhood Sechuan take-out. Make sure to try the Fried Okra. You’ll thank me for the advice. After the meal, check out Spice Corner, near 29th Street, for some Barfi, a great Indian/Pakistani dessert or some delicious dried fruit. That’s when the moment will be just right for a Paan from Shiva, which will help you digest and move on to exploring the rest of the neighborhood’s goodies, like clothing and housewares scattered around the side streets.
JACKSON HEIGHTS - QUEENS
Another gem awaits you, just a quick jaunt from Midtown Manhattan by R or F train. Get off at Roosevelt Ave/Jackson Heights and cross the street to 74th Street. If you see a Citibank and loads of sparkling clothes, you are in the right spot. I usually come to Jackson Heights when I am in the mood for two very specific items: Kulfi - a type of Indian ice-cream with a heavier consistency and more fragrant taste - and hair oils. For the first item on my list, I usually wander from grocery to grocery, looking for my favorite, the Kesar, or saffron flavor. But kulfi is made for every taste and other popular options are Malai, or cream and cardamon flavor, Pista - pistachio - and Mango. Patel Brothers, the big supermarket, has good kulfi but always seems to be out of my favorite. Although a nice trip through its crowded aisles is a great way to get acquainted with the vibe of the neighborhood.
For my hair oil - Amla or Jasmine with Coconut are great for lackluster and colored hair - I stop in Butala Emporium, across from Patel’s, which also has a shop in Curry Hill. I have grown to love the gentlemen who tend to the shop in Queens and the Manhattan one doesn’t have as much of a selection. While in Butala, I also recommend stocking up on Indian Kajal, a black, waxy eye stick which is the best-kept make-up artists’ secret to achieving a smokey eye look.
If you get hungry during your adventure, stop in Delhi Palace for an all-you-can-eat buffet meal, under $8 per person. Make sure to ask for the complimentary Dosa which are free with your meal. A Dosa is a thin, rolled pancake made out of lentil flour and typically eaten in South India for breakfast. But if you have never tried it before, it’s a must and goes well with any Indian meal. At the buffet, you will find a great selection of vegetarian choices, if that is your style, as well as some chicken and lamb dishes. This might not be the best place to order a hamburger, as the cow is a Holy, sacred animal in India, but fear not, as you will never leave Delhi Palace hungry. A great way to finish a filling Indian meal is by drinking some Masala Tea, a black tea with a mixture of cardamom, cinnamon and cloves, best drank with milk and sugar, for a full, mouth-blasting experience.
EDISON - NEW JERSEY
Last, but not least, is the furthest but also most authentic of the Indian neighborhoods. A 30-minute ride on NJ Transit to Metropark station, will let you off about a mile from the action. A quick cab ride will take care of the rest. Ask to be let off on Oak Tree Road, near Galaxy Food Court, and work it from there. Among the highlights is the above mentioned, perpetually over-crowded Galaxy, with the great Punjabi Junction stall - specializing in authentic tandooris - and Kwality Ice Cream on the other end of Oak Tree Road. You must try the Sitaphal - literally “Fruit of the Gods” - or custard apple flavor, one of the reasons I visit Edison. Inside the Kwality center you will also find the famous Laxmi Paan Shop, the best place to have Paan this side of the Indian Ocean. When done right, as they do it at Laxmi, it is a symphony in your mouth. Check out Sound of Music for inexpensive DVDs and CDs, as well as Khubsoorat, Ritu Kumar and Khajana for amazingly beautiful clothing - though not always accompanied by the friendliest service. But even the sultry stares and pushiness of some of the sales staff in the more upscale shops, always take me back to those shops I adore in Bombay! You see, I simply cannot lose as long as I see, taste and feel India around me. So come on, join in the fun and take a trip through a very different, much spicier and more colorful NY, the next time you find yourselves in my neck of the woods!
Images courtesy of Liju Philip, Dina Rudick, Kayoko, Rekha Inc., DK Images and E. Nina Rothe
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