The Hindu Business Line : NY spiced... at Curry Hill

They might never quite be able to recreate the experience of bhel puri on Chowpatti or tiffin at MTR, but New York City's Indian restaurants span a range that, outside of the motherland, are only rivalled by London. Perhaps this is less surprising when you consider that there are over 200,000 Indians living in the five boroughs of the city, according to a 2005 survey. The number of restaurants — and the variety — reflect the diversity of the population, from taxi drivers to investment bankers and everyone in between.

Living in Manhattan, a meal of dal, aloo gobi and chicken tikka masala is never more than a phone call away. And nowhere is this more apparent than in Curry Hill, a strip of Manhattan's Murray Hill area that radiates out from 28th street and Lexington Avenue.

The most densely populated block is between 27th and 28th streets, with over 10 restaurants serving everything from dosas and idlis to Gujarati thalis, from biryani to gobi Manchurian. There is even a Saravanaas — yes, a franchise of the original Chennai chain — on the corner of 26th street.

Advertising itself as vegetarian and kosher, Chennai Garden has been part of Curry Hill for four years. The owners, Rafi Amanuah and Muthu Adhimuloom, are originally from Puducherry — and are, surprisingly, among the few South Indians running a South Indian restaurant on the strip. Madras Mahal around the corner has Gujarati owners. Amanuah describes his clientele as mixed, with more Indians coming in on the weekends with their families, some from neighbouring New Jersey. During the week, Chennai Garden's patrons are more diverse. A major attraction is the affordable lunch buffet, $6.95 for all you can eat, and Curry Hill's proximity to a business district ensures a steady lunchtime flow.

Vik Lulla, owner of Chinese Mirch, the only Indian-Chinese restaurant with proven staying power in the Curry Hill area — they've been around for three years — decided to carve a new niche in a market dominated by dosa huts. Unlike most of the other restaurants in the area, Lulla's chefs and staff are entirely Chinese rather than desi. His clientele, however, is usually mixed, reflecting a similar breakdown of demographics as Chennai Garden — Indian family outings on the weekends and a mix of nationalities during the week.

Taste of India

For young Indians living in Manhattan, Curry Hill is definitely an oft-used resource. Instead of Eggs Benedict, Sunday brunch for them often consists of masala dosas and lassi at Saravanaas or Chennai Garden or Pongal.

Romita Bhandary, a designer living in Murray Hill, says Saravanaas has preserved its authenticity and she sometimes eats there on the weekend. Most of the time, though, she just orders in from the Curry Hill restaurants. "They don't have great atmosphere," she adds. She gets food delivered about once a week — "usually the basics, yellow dal, eggplant and potatoes, and mutter paneer." For Romita the best value for money is the Indian fast-food equivalent, Curry in a Hurry, which specialises in Mughlai cuisine.

Sonya Reuther and Mrinalini Nair, also residents of the surrounding neighbourhood, are similarly inclined to order in rather than go to the restaurants. Mrinalini, who did some of her schooling in Bangalore, is less impressed with the South Indian offerings and feels that the North Indian "Punjabi" fare is closer to home.

Both Sonya and Mrinalini recommend Haandi, an Indian-Pakistani-Bangladeshi establishment that is frequented by New York City cab drivers — a line of yellow taxis is always parked along the sidewalk outside. The atmosphere is practically non-existent, but the food, which includes staples like mutton biryani and paya, is "genuine and tasty". And the value for money is unbeatable.

Room for more

Curry Hill is also home to a handful of Indian stores that supply nearly every ingredient needed to create a home-cooked desi meal — from frozen samosas to fresh curry leaves, from Maggi 2-minute noodles to brinjal achaar. There is also a Bollywood DVD rental store, a paan wallah, a sari shop and an Indian-owned liquor store to complete the picture.

Perhaps then, all things considered, it's not so surprising that when you do a search for "Indian" on menupages.com, a fairly comprehensive database of New York City restaurant menus, there are 175 matches within Manhattan alone. This number doesn't even take into consideration the other boroughs, particularly Queens — home to Jackson Heights, where Indian restaurants and stores abound. The 175 span a geographical and monetary range. At one end of the spectrum there is the Kati Roll Company, with outlets in Greenwich Village and Midtown, which serves, as the name suggests, kati rolls. A chicken tikka roll at this establishment costs a mere $4. At the high-end Tabla, located close to Curry Hill, the food is "Indian influenced" and costs about $64 for a three-course menu.

There is, however, one glaring omission, as Mrinalini points out. "There are no real South Indian non-vegetarian options," No Chicken Chettinad, Mangalorean chicken curry or Allepy fish curry. The gap suggests that, even in a culinary market that seems saturated at first glance, there is still opportunity in an overlooked niche.