India is home to many grand temple kitchens preparing and serving pure vegetarian meals to tens of thousands of devotees every day. Visitors are served food as holy prasad at the mega temple kitchens in India. But, temple canteen or temple restaurant is a rare concept in India though the sprawling complex of ISKCON Temple in Bengaluru houses ‘The Higher Taste’ restaurant which serves sattvic vegetarian breakfast, lunch and dinner in a luxurious setting. Both the buffet menu and the a la carte menu at Bangalore ISKCON Temple’s restaurant are as pricey as that at a semi-luxury restaurant.

Indians in America got the first Hindu temple restaurant in 1993. Located at Flushing in the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island across the East River from Manhattan, the Ganesh Temple Canteen is a most popular South Indian food hub for devotees and foodies alike. The cavernous basement of New York’s Ganesh Temple in Queens houses the self-service canteen which serves simple, delicious, authentic South Indian vegetarian dishes, as many as hundred, at very reasonable rates. The canteen operates from 8.30 AM to 9 PM on all days.

From Temple Kitchen to Temple Canteen

In contrast to the intricately sculpted pillars and the delicately ornate facade upstairs, the Ganesh Temple Canteen offers a no-frills space where a filling meal feels like a divine blessing. What started as a kitchen to prepare naivedyam (sacred culinary offering) for the presiding deities of New York’s Ganesh Temple in Flushing has evolved into a family restaurant for both the temple visitors and passersby.

No Food Item Exceeds $7

Many items on the menu of Queens’ Ganesh Temple Canteen, NYC are priced within $1 to $7, except a few dishes including Onion Masala Dosa for $7.5 each, the Saturday Special Mini Tiffin for $10.50 each, and the Sunday Special Thali Lunch for $11 each. Idli, Vada, Upma, Uttapam, Dosa, Puri Aloo, and Aloo Bonda are some of the most popular South Indian tiffin items at New York’s Ganesh Temple Canteen. Most of the South Indian food items are served with delicious sambar and coconut chutney.

Umpteen Varieties of Dosa

One of the best places for dosas in New York, the Ganesh Temple Canteen in Flushing serves as many varieties of dosa as in South Indian cities like Hyderabad, Chennai, Madurai, Kochi and Bengaluru. Both Indians and Americans go gaga over crispy, delicious dosa here. Popular dosa varieties are rava dosa, onion dosa, Mysore dosa, set dosa, Pondicherry dosa, and Hyderabadi masala dosa.

Saturday and Sunday Specials

Idiappam, Dahi Vada and Chole Puri are among the Saturday Specials. The Sunday Specials include Onion Pakoda and Mirchi Bajji. Available only on Sundays, three varieties of Thali Lunch – Andhra, Madras and Kerala – are favorites of visitors. Special red onion sambar vada is a Saturday staple here. Masala Tea, Madras Coffee, and Mango Lassi are some of the popular Indian beverages on the menu at Queens Ganesh Temple Canteen NYC.

Also Read: America’s tallest gopuram is at this Indian temple in East Coast

New York’s Ganesh Temple Canteen in Flushing, Queens is one of the best South Indian restaurants in New York City. It has earned rave reviews from eminent food critics, mentions in leading community portals including Travel Beats, and features in the US media. Since its opening in 1993, the canteen has grown rapidly with the support of temple visitors. Besides serving over hundred dishes round the year, the canteen also caters to Indian community events and festivities in and around the Big Apple.

All thanks to Dr. Uma Mysorekar, President of the Hindu Temple Society of North America, New York. Her dream of a temple canteen for devotees and visitors came true with the hiring of a special cook in 1993. Today, the Ganesh Temple in Queens is known not only as a place of worship but for its decades-old canteen, one of the few best places for authentic Indian food in New York.

This exclusive story is part of the series, Indian Life in America, by Indian Eagle, the most trusted travel-booking partner of Americans and Indian Expats in the US. Subscribe to Travel Beats, a thriving community portal by Indian Eagle, for Indian Diaspora stories, US-India travel news, flight discount offers, visa and immigration updates.

The post Ganesh Temple Canteen in New York is First Hindu Temple Restaurant for Authentic Indian food in USA first appeared on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

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While the US-India bilateral trade relations have hit rough terrains in recent times, a love story that blossomed between USA and India in 2005 is shining bright at Thattu, an award-winning restaurant catering coastal south Indian food to American taste buds. The Malabar cuisine of India sailed on a boat of love from the backwaters of Kerala to the Chicago River in the Midwest US, undermining sporadic visa and immigration curbs. All thanks to a Korean American and a Keralite Indian whose labor of love is Thattu Chicago.

A landmark for authentic flavors of Kerala, including Onam Sadhya in Chicago, Thattu was born out of the love marriage of Vinod Kalathil from Kozhikode and Margaret Pak from California. Be it spongy soft Appam, Kothu Parotta, Malabar Chicken Biryani, Meen Pollichathu (a flavorful dish of fish roasted in banana leaves), Avial (a thick stew of vegetables), or Jackfruit Cake, the Indo-American couple has been serving with love since 2018 when Thattu started just as a pop-up stall.

Vinod and Margaret fell in love at first sight in Los Angeles in 2002. After dating for 3 years, Vinod left for his native place in Kerala. Smitten by love bug, Margaret booked her travel on flights to India from USA and followed him to Kozhikode, where they tied the knot. The post-wedding ceremonies, including a grand family feast, introduced Margaret to Malabar cuisine, of which Onam Sadhya is a quintessential part.

Being a food connoisseur herself, she took it as an opportunity to learn the cultural nuances of cooking Malabar dishes during her month-long stay at the in-laws’. She inherited a number of unique recipes from her mother-in-law; some dating back to 1970. This heirloom not only strengthened her alliance with the coastal Malabar cuisine but also urged her to popularize the cultural significance of Onam Sadhya far away from God’s Own Country. It went on to serve as foundation for their dream project – Thattu in the Midwest region of USA.

Located in Avondale, a chic neighborhood in Chicago, Thattu serves Filter Kaapi, Lime Tea, and Malabar Ginger Cooler with Malasa Biscuit, a popular snack in Kerala other than banana chips. Margaret took fancy to it and added it to her anytime favourites during her stay in Kozhikode, as her father-in-law used to bring Masala Biscuit from a popular local bakery. Made from as many as 20 ingredients with balanced sweet, spicy, and salty flavors, the Masala Biscuit sells like a hotcake at Thattu.

Opening a restaurant to serve authentic Kerala food to different South Asian communities and Americans was easier said than done. One fine day in 2017, she decided to set herself free from the corporate grind after 12 years of marriage, as her strenuous corporate job became a deterrent to her dreams. She took up jobs as an entry-level chef at some local restaurants to learn the fundamentals of a commercial kitchen and how to run it with passion and precision. At the same time, she dabbled as a home chef to perfect her hands in cooking the cuisine of Kerala.

Vinod Kalathil, co-owner of Thattu in Chicago, quit his job in 2019 and joined his better half in the new pursuit – to make the Midwest fall in love with the Indian state of backwaters and its culinary platter. In a very short time, Thattu became a small outlet from a food stall under the care of the couple and entered the semifinals for the James Beard Award, equivalent to the Oscars in the world of food.

In mid-2020, the COVID-19 pandemic cut the lifespan of Thattu short by pulling down the shutters. But the Indo-American couple planned reopening, bigger and better, believing, “Every dark cloud has a silver lining.” In April 2023, Thattu reopened as a full-blown restaurant with 50 seats in Avondale and started receiving guests from far and wide. Soon, it became one of the best Indian restaurants in Chicago and went on to feature on The New York Times’ list of ‘America’s Best 50 Restaurants’.

Thattu owes a great fan following to its role in broadening the definition of Indian food to Americans beyond chicken tikka masala, butter paneer, and naan. The menu at Thattu celebrates South Indian cuisine beyond the quintessential dosa, idli, and sambar. Vinod and Margaret chose to walk the road less traveled by most Indian restaurateurs in the US by excluding those common dishes from the menu.

The USP of Thattu Chicago is hosting an Onam food festival every year and serving Onam Sadhya (Kerala’s festive meal of 18 to 24 dishes) on fresh banana leaves. The guests, a majority being Americans, are offered illustrative menu cards with the etiquette of enjoying the Onam feast. At their restaurants, Vinod and Margaret promote the Indian culture of eating with hands, especially during Onam celebrations, and educate the guests on science behind this.

This exclusive story is part of the series, Indian Life in America, by Indian Eagle, the most trusted travel-booking partner of Americans and Indian Expats in the US. Subscribe to Travel Beats, a thriving community portal by Indian Eagle, for Indian Diaspora stories, US-India travel news, visa and immigration updates.

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How it feels when you wake up to your familiar aroma of homemade breakfast dishes on a Saturday morning thousands of miles away from India? Surreal and heavenly! A working couple from South India has turned their neighborhood into a dosa-loving community of the locals and other Indians residing there in the northeast USA. They capitalized on the Indian culture of cooking and sharing food to make friends with strangers in their adopted home and started Brooklyn Curry Project in 2021. 

“Swetha and Venkat Raju’s Brooklyn Curry Project in Fort Green, a neighborhood of Brooklyn, is to dosa lovers what Queens’ Ganesh Temple canteen is to devotees in the Big Apple. What they had started as a makeshift social hang during the pandemic has now become one of the few best places for authentic South Indian food in New York City. It is their third kid (now 5 years old) after a 15-year-old son and a 9-year-old daughter,” said Sourav Agarwal, the Editor of Travel Beats, a leading Indian Diaspora portal.

It was 2016 when Venkat and Swetha Raju with their firstborn moved from Bengaluru to New York for a better life in the land of American Dream. “We really missed home when we first came here, so we just started cooking and inviting neighbors over,” Swetha, a software engineer, told Brooklyn Magazine, as we Indians believe that the way to one’s heart is through the one’s stomach. Soon the neighborhood began to swear by their food, and of course, their friendliness. Venkat, a lawyer by profession, is equally good at cooking; both come from families with a tiffin business in Karnataka.

Brooklyn Curry Project was born out of their daughter’s lemonade stand that was set up one summer near the weekly farmers market in Fort Greene. The sense of satisfaction, as they describe their feeling of meeting people at the lemonade stand, became a driver for their heartfelt wish to serve Bangalore-style masala dosa, fluffy idli, uthappam, and masala chai to the locals. While dosa – the king of the menu – is the crowd puller, they do also offer nutritious lunch platters with chapati, rice/khichdi, curry, pickle, and moong sprout salad.

Both Indians and non-Indians make a beeline to their humble food stand even before the first ladle of fermented batter makes it to the heated pan for a crispy dosa every Saturday morning. In addition to filling the void of authentic South Indian food in the lives of Indians in and around Brooklyn, Swetha and Venkat dispelled the most common myth of Indian food being all about butter chicken and chicken tikka masala. “Indian food is so stereotyped outside of India. There is more to our food culture; every region has its own cuisine,” said Swetha, a cofounder of Brooklyn Curry Project.

“It is like having a piece of India in your backyard. Swetha puts love into every dosa she makes. They even catered for our 2-year-old’s birthday celebration and made it extra special. The sambar she makes is probably the best. No exaggeration at all. As a New Yorker with a small child and no family nearby, their stand makes Brooklyn feel more like home,” said one of the regulars to Brooklyn Curry Project in Fort Greene. “It reminds me a lot of what my mom cooks in India. The food tastes just like mom’s. Besides, the Raju family is amazing,” said another Indian regular.

Mango lassi and masala chai are among the bestsellers in the Rajus’ repertoire. The USP of their parttime venture is their practice of environmental sustainability; those who bring containers from home for takeaways get a 5% discount. Another USP is the judicious use of spices that they source from India and ground at their New York residence. They also share various dosa recipes on Instagram and offer a weekly subscription of dosa batter so that customers make their own in home and don’t miss them on week days.

“Venkat and Swetha Raju organize an annual dosa eating contest out of their business sensibility for increasing the brand equity and brand loyalty among their customers. Indeed, Indian food is ruling tastebuds even on the other end of the spectrum, that is Washington Square Park at lower Manhattan where the ‘Dosa Man of New York’ effervescently serves smoking hot masala dosas. There is no denying that the proliferation of Indian food culture, including Payal Saha’s Kati Rolls, continues to make New York home to a majority of Indian immigrants,” said Editor Sourav Agarwal.

This exclusive story is part of the series, Indian Life in America, by Indian Eagle, the most trusted travel-booking partner of Indian Expats in the US. Subscribe to Travel Beats, a thriving community portal by Indian Eagle, for Indian Diaspora stories, US-India travel news, visa and immigration updates.

The post This Indian Working Couple, a Techie and a Lawyer, Brings Indian Culture of Socializing over Food to USA first appeared on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

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Saas and Bahus are mostly at loggerheads from Indian TV family soaps to Indian households. Either mothers-in-law are dominating and daughters-in-law are submissive, or daughters-in-law are scheming and mothers-in-law are suffering. In times when their “kitchen politics” grab eyeballs to raise TRPs for TV serials, a real-life saas-bahu duo – Sushila and Aishwarya – have bonded over food as friends and business partners though they are thousands of miles apart from each other.

Sushila cooks Marathi flavors in her kitchen in Mumbai and her daughter-in-law Aishwarya serves the same from New York. The saas creates culinary magic in India and ships to New York with dollops of nostalgia. The bahu packages it and sells to Indian expats across the United States where all Indian things are available these days, except authentic Maa ka Khana. Their bond is called and celebrated as Namkeen Queens.

Before Namkeen Queens was born, Sushila Aai would send her handmade sweets and snacks to her son and daughter-in-law in New York on festive occasions like Diwali. Engaged in the American rate race, their only comfort of home away from home was Sushila’s besan ladoo, rava ladoo, and chakli from India. Festive boxes of homemade savories on flights from Mumbai to New York blossomed into a full-blown business – Namkeen Queens in the US.

For Aishwarya Shankar, a Keralite of Tamil descent, the Marathi snacks with touches of Kolhapur cuisine tasted completely different; however, the love, warmth, and care that Sushila Aai cooks with felt familiar to her. Little did she know then that they, in-laws by relation, would bond over food as daughter and mother, and business partners. With the neighboring Indians showing interest in her mother-in-law’s snacks, Aishwarya hatched a business idea.

Aishwarya quit her corporate career in the US and launched Namkeen Queens with Sushila Aai as a co-founder. She was a seasoned product manager with years of experience navigating the dynamic landscape of product development in digital commerce. Though located in different hemispheres, they teamed up with both ‘excitement and uncertainty’ – only to start ruling as ‘Namkeen Queens’ in September 2024.

When Aishwarya pitched the idea to the family, Sushila Aai did not turn averse to cooking savories at a commercial scale. Rather, she agreed to don a home chef’s hat for herself. Commercial cooking is not difficult for her, as she cooked for large gatherings and festive occasions for years – an age-old tradition in joint Indian families. Aishwarya’s brother-in-law also stepped in to supply logistics and provide any other support to Sushila Aai in Mumbai.

Piloted by the daughter-in-law’s business acumen, the mother-in-law’s culinary artistry began to take flights to USA from India, delivering an experience, a feeling, an authentic taste that Indians abroad long for.

“Namkeen Queens is not just a brand—it’s a tribute to the rich culinary legacy of my mother-in-law (Sushila Aai). Her cooking skills and authentic recipes are at the heart of our mission. She’s a remarkable woman with incredible culinary talent. I’m committed to preserving and sharing her culinary magic with the world, turning traditional Marathi flavors into a global sensation,” Namkeen Queens’ CEO Aishwarya told Travel Beats, a leading overseas Indian community portal.

Namkeen Queens’ authentic Indians snacks are equally popular with Indian expats missing the taste of home and other ethnic groups curious about Indian flavors. Yearnings for Maa ka Khana and value for the authenticity of ingredients used keep Namkeen Queens alive as a bridge not only between Aishwarya and Sushila, but also the US and India. Aishwarya defines Namkeen Queens as “a connection to heritage, a celebration of tradition, and a way of sharing the warmth of home…”

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Indian staples like idli, dosa, samosa and chaat have already won over the hearts and palates of Americans as evident from Chai Paani in North Carolina, which was named the States’ most outstanding restaurant in 2022. The new ambassador of Indian street food to have journeyed from the bustling markets of Delhi to America’s busiest thoroughfares is Momos with desi flavors that have enthralled the tastebuds, both American and Indian, equally.

Catering platefuls of momos, dim sums, and dumplings is Fomo Momo Food Truck, a ‘passion’ project by two Indian tech professionals living their American Dream thousands of miles away from home. Driven by nostalgia and longing for authentic Indian momos, Ankita Nagpal and Impreet Sodhi teamed up to enrich the cosmopolitan food scene of northeast USA with Indianized versions of Tibetan dumplings. Their food truck stands out amidst the brick-and-mortar retail stores for its vibrant pink flamboyance in Central Avenue – one of the bustling shopping districts in Jersey City, NJ.

Unlike Shama Joshi who gave up her Microsoft career to become a food entrepreneur in Seattle, the owners of Fomo Momo Food Truck did not make any such sacrifice yet. They juggle both their full-time jobs and the evening food truck with equal dedication and attention to details. After wrapping up their everyday office work, Ankita Nagpal and Impreet Sodhi get into their ‘chef’ avatars swiftly for a beeline of buzzing foodies waiting to grab bites of ‘FOMO’ momos. As they engage with customers and take their feedback personally, they often lose track of the hours until it’s time to call it a day.

Fomo Momo Food Truck in Jersey City has a well-curated menu for ethnically diverse palates, ranging from spice-loving Indians to spice-sensitive Americans. It features a variety of flavors in steamed and fried versions for veg and non-veg lovers. Ankita and Impreet attribute the success of their joint venture to the versatility and adaptability of Indian street food. Bites of chicken Manchurian momos won’t let you crave chili chicken. Their Schezwan momos fulfil your longing for flavorful Mumbai bhel or jhalmuri of Kolkata. Tandoori momos, among their bestsellers, make a perfect alternative to tandoori chicken.

You name a flavor, they have it. Be it buttery makhani, Afghani, or smoky tandoori momos, they serve it with rich sauces. The familiar sense of contentment they see on the faces of their Indian customers evokes memories of their own younger selves devouring Indian momos in the streets of Delhi.

It was what Ankita and Impreet dearly missed, after moving to the US. It was what unsettled them though they were happily settled in their pursuit of American Dream, until their paths crossed at a social gathering. Their husbands are college friends. They forged a bond over their mutual love and longing for authentic Indian food (especially momos), which strengthened from friendship to business partnership. They hatched a plan to hit the streets of New Jersey and New York with a food truck at their first meeting itself.

From the very beginning, their shared vision was clear – to recreate Delhi’s vibrant street food scene in the heart of New Jersey. For Ankita Nagpal and Impreet Sodhi, Fomo Momo Food Truck is not just an entrepreneurial venture but also a means to nurture their umbilical cord with their roots and celebrate their home country’s culinary diversity. Evidently, it was not a piece of cake. Full-time IT jobs and everyday family duties did not subdue their appetite, passion, and commitment. They started experimentation using various spices and herbs to create the right balance of flavors and sought feedback from friends.

Once the recipes were honed to perfection, they put in marketing efforts, such as distributing complimentary samples from door to door, creating educative content on the subtle difference between momos and dim sums, and inviting prospective customers to take part in various activities, and engaging them with the titbits of India’s street food culture. In 2021, they started with an Indian street food stall at Smorgasburg Food Festival in NJ. Foodies from different communities started taking a fancy to their fusion momos with flavorful fillings.

The overwhelming response there encouraged them to make it to Smorgasburg Food Festival in New York, where their momos and dim sums found the same outpouring of love. Thus, what started as a food stall became a thriving business venture on bigger wheels. The transition was the hardest, yet the most rewarding journey for the techie duo. Though located in Central Avenue, Fomo Momo Food Truck with a live kitchen, travels to hotspots across New Jersey and New York. You may spot them also at Smorgasburg World Trade Centre, a popular outdoor food market in the Big Apple.

The techies – Ankita Nagpal and Impreet Sodhi – are good at branding too. They coined the name ‘Fomo Momo’ drawing upon the fear of missing out on succulent, delectable momos with fusion flavors. The mascot of their business is a modern Indian woman exuding a cool demeanor in a traditional attire and raising her left eyebrow to invite you for an unforgettable indulgence. The food truck with a vibrant pink look is easily identifiable at popular hotspots teeming with the locals.

This exclusive story is part of the series, Indian Life in America, by Indian Eagle, a most trusted travel-booking partner of Indian Diaspora in the USA. Subscribe to Travel Beats, a thriving community portal by Indian Eagle, for overseas Indian community stories, US-India travel news, visa and immigration updates.

The post Techies by Day, Chefs by Night: Two Indian Women Serve Flavors of India at Fomo Momo Food Truck in USA first appeared on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

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Rash Behari Bose is one of the unsung heroes and freedom fighters of India. The story of his role in India’s struggle for freedom is a significant episode in the history of Indian independence movement. Deeply affected by the Partition of Bengal in 1905, Rash Behari Bose quit his job as an officer of the British Raj and became a revolutionary. He was issued a death sentence for his involvement in some conspiracies against Lord Hardinge, the then British Viceroy of India. He fled to Japan where he did the groundwork for the foundation of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s Azad Hind Fauj by writing about the colonized India’s struggle for freedom in the contemporary Japanese publications.

Rash Behari Bose is mostly known as a revolutionary in India, but he is remembered in Japan for another thing, which only the few know. During his stay in Japan, he introduced an authentic Indian curry that is a key dish on the menu at Tokyo’s popular restaurants, even today.

When the detective agencies hired by the British traced his whereabouts in Tokyo, Rash Behari Bose moved to Shinjuku, a commercial district of Tokyo and found a hideout there. The new hideout was the Nakamuraya bakery in one of the narrow, congested, bustling lanes in Shinjuku. The Nakamuraya bakery was owned by Aizo Soma and Kotsuko Soma, who hailed of a wealthy family in Shinjuku. Being supporters of India’s struggle for independence, the Somas sheltered Rash Behari Bose in the basement of the house.

Gradually he got close to other members of the Soma family and developed a bond of affection with them. During his stay there, he shared the recipe of his favorite Indian chicken curry with the Somas. They found it delectable and thumbed it as their favorite too. Thus the Indian dish became popular in the Soma house in Shinjuku.

Eventually Rash Behari Bose married Toshiko, the eldest daughter of Aizo Soma and Kotsuko Soma, in 1918, at a time when the act of tying the nuptial know with foreigners used to be condemned in Japan. Toshiko’s contribution to his pursuit of the mission, India’s freedom from the British, is still not much heard of. The nest of happiness collapsed like a house of cards when she died of tuberculosis, at the age of 28, in 1925 leaving him with two children behind.

After two years of bereavement for the demise of Toshiko, he got back to work and decided to help his in-laws who were struggling to run the bakery in competition with other stores in Shinjuku. He opened a small restaurant on top of the Nakamuraya bakery in Shinjuku and began to serve his favorite chicken curry along with other Indian dishes to the locals. The rich aroma of authentic Indian spices from the restaurant’s kitchen would attract passers-by. Bose himself selected the ingredients and supervised the cooking of the chicken curry which gradually became Indo Karii, a blend of Indian curry and Japanese rice.

Interesting Stories of Kolkata

• Black & White Calcutta in 1960s
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• Colonial History of Kolakata’s Hand-pulled Rickshaws
• Tidbits of Authentic Bengali Cuisine

The print media of Japan described Nakamuraya’s Indo Karii as Rash Behari Bose’s “Taste of love and revolution,” which gave tremendous publicity to the restaurant and made it a must visit for the best Indian food in Tokyo. It evolved into such a big business that it went public on the Japanese stock exchange.

In 1944, Bose was hospitalized due to a collapse of the lungs. When the visiting doctor asked him about his appetite, Bose replied gloomily, “How can I have an appetite when the nurses don’t allow me to have the food I most desire?” The doctor asked what the food was. Obviously, it was Nakamuraya’s Indo Karii.

Even so many decades after Rash Behari Bose breathed his last in 1945, Nakamuraya’s Indo Karii continues to be a household name and a popular dish in Japan. The restaurant, Nakamuraya Manna in Shinjuku, was renovated in 2015, and is spacious enough to host more than 100 people at a time. Vintage photographs of the Somas and Bose in the lobby add to the historical significance of the restaurant.

Rash Behari Bose’s ‘taste of love and revolution,’ Nakamuraya Indo Karii, is a pure nostalgia for Indians, especially Bengalis, on a visit to Tokyo.

The post Know How Freedom Fighter Rash Behari Bose Made Japan Fall in Love with His Chicken Curry while Working for Netaji first appeared on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

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What are the best things to do in Kolkata this Durga Puja? Hopping across puja pandals, zipping through jostling crowds at puja spots, watching a Bengali art film, riding the underground Metro, visiting the Victoria Memorial, shopping at New Market, and having the quintessential Kolkata street food experience. If you go by a Kolkata street food guide for tips on what to eat on the roadside, you will feel like being spoilt for choice over a huge number of street food items in Kolkata.

So, we recommend five best street food items which you must have in the City of Joy. Notably, ‘Kolkata is the best destination for street food,’ according to a survey that the Taste of Travel conducted among 56727 respondents across 30 street food markets in India this year. 

It is jhal muri that is unique to the Kolkata street food experience for anyone and at any time of the year. One of the most popular evening snacks, it is a great mouth entertainer, both in and out of home. The locals are seen entertaining themselves over this crispy and spicy item, here and there in the city. Vendors are found selling jhal muri at public places including parks, gardens, cinema halls, markets, bus stops and railway platforms. It is made of puffed rice, fried lentils, and other crunchy ingredients mixed with drops of mustard oil, spices, chopped tomatoes and onion slices. You will see young boys and girls standing in long queues outside the puja pandals and spending time over jhal muri during Durga Puja.

Another evening special tongue-teasing item is pani puri that deserves to be among the top ten on a Kolkata street food guide for its popularity with the locals. This iconic Indian street food snack is known as puchka all over  the city. It is a tamarind mixed watery item with spiced potato mash in round chip. The mouthful relish of puchkas outside the Victoria Memorial, a brand icon of Kolkata City, is a craze with tourists. In the Bollywood movie Parineeta, a sequence featuring Vidya Balan, Sanjay Dutt and Raima Sen eating puchkas from a roadside vendor was shot at the Victoria Memorial. It is a must have on the festive evenings of Durga Puja.

India boasts a rich and diverse chaat culture – a common culinary thread in the multi-layered social fabric of the country. Mumbai, Delhi and other metro cities have papri chat, kachori chat, and alu chat in common, while Kolkata enjoys uniqueness for its distinct roadside chaat item – ghugni chaat. It is made from boiled yellow peas mixed with onion and tomato slices, seasoned with lime juice and spices, and served in small leaf bowls. Taste a few spoons of ghugni chaat to feel one with the street food culture of Kolkata. Bengalis are in the habit of taking ghugni chaat with slices of bread.

Kolkata street food retains the distinction of being unique to the culinary essence of the city, and harmonizes with the influences of other countries at the same time. It is chowmein that best reflects this dual identity of Kolkata street food culture. Made by frying boiled chow noodles with mix veggies in oil, chowmein is a borrowing from the Chinese cuisine. The main ingredient may be Chinese, but the smokey, spicy flavor is Kolkatan to the core. Bengalis are fond of egg and chicken chowmein, while veg chowmein is popular with the people in other parts of the country.

Do ask Kolkattans what they like to eat when they go out for shopping or watching a movie? Most of them will say for sure that it is spring roll stuffed with an omelet or chopped chicken or small mutton pieces. The mouthwatering bites of egg rolls, chicken rolls and mutton rolls define the pleasure of evening outings for the locals. Even the Bengalis born and bred in a cosmopolitan society prefer this street food to burgers. Kolkata will not disappoint you if you are veg. Paneer spring roll is also available there. However, rolls are served smoking hot with sauce and wrapped in a thin piece of paper.

Kachuri, moglai, momo, fish fry, chicken cutlet, and alu chop are the other must-try tongue teasers on the list. These items not only define the uniqueness of Kolkata street food culture but also reason why the city is called a city of foodies.

Travel Beats is a community portal by Indian Eagle, a leading travel organization for Indian Diaspora and booking cheap flights to Kolkata from USA. Travel Beats publishes interesting stories from India and USA. Subscribe to our free newsletter and don’t miss the latest updates.

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The post These Popular Kolkata Street Food Items Add a Zing to Durga Puja Celebration first appeared on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

The post These Popular Kolkata Street Food Items Add a Zing to Durga Puja Celebration appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

Two or more human beings speaking the same language build spontaneous connection between them. It is much true about expats on a foreign shore. Especially Indians living abroad get emotional and feel nostalgic when someone speaks to them in their mother tongue. This is what happened to a Tamil Indian in New York recently.

Arieh Smith, an American YouTuber and food blogger who is popular as Xiaoma, posted a video of his recent visit to three South Indian eateries, one in New York City and two in Jersey City. The video has gone viral garnering nearly 18 lakh views, 50000 likes and nearly 3000 comments from his followers, Tamilian NRIs and other Indians across the United States. His YouTube channel Xiomanyc has close to five million followers.

His quest for the best Tamilian food drove him from the Dosa Man of New York to two South Indian restaurants in New Jersey. The moment Xiaoma entered Chennai Dosa Express in Jersey City, NJ, he greeted the owner in Tamil. He said “Vanakkam” (a Tamil word meaning Hello or Namaste) to the restaurant owner, and his impeccable pronunciation impressed the latter. Thus, the American and the Indian got into a conversation in Tamil.

He ordered a plate of onion rava dosa in Tamil at Chennai Dosa Express, NJ. Rava Dosa, a dosa variant with low curbs and calories, is a popular dish in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. He also asked for a glass of Jigarthanda, a cold beverage famous in Madurai, a temple town in Tamil Nadu. He was served a piece of crispy onion rava dosa with four different chutneys and a bowl of sambar on a platter. He explained that the meal was delicious and fulfilling.

When the YouTuber handed over his card to pay the bill, the Indian restaurant owner said, “It’s on the house, actually.” But the boy insisted on paying for the meal. The owner was so intrigued by his fluent Tamil that he hesitated to take money from him, as a feel-good gesture of Indian hospitality. It was like one of those rare moments that remind us of home when we are away from home.

Arieh Smith posted the video of his visit to the Tamilian restaurants in New Jersey with the description, “I’ve been fascinated with the Tamil language ever since I learned that it is one of the world’s oldest languages still in use. Spoken in both India and Sri Lanka it’s actually quite rare in America, but I was able to find some restaurants in and around New York City that are run by Tamil speakers and here’s what happened when I tried ordering in this ancient and beautiful but extremely challenging language. Definitely check these restaurants out by the way as they make some AMAZING food.”

Xiaoma’s fluent Tamil and the Tamil Indian restaurant owner’s hospitality have elicited warm response from Indians and Americans. An Indian named Yash Uday commented, “I’ve been taught Tamil since I was young but I couldn’t say some of the words you were saying. Also, my mom saw this video and she seemed so happy. Even though Tamil is so ancient language, it’s barely talked about. So, thank you for making a video about Tamil. I really appreciate it.”

“This heart-warming incident reminded me of one of Nelson Mandela’s wonderful quotes, ‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.’ This quote sumps up the whole story,” said the Editor of Travel Beats, an Indian community portal in USA by Indian Eagle.

Another Indian named Rooshhil Patel wrote, “My Fiancé speaks Tamil and well I don’t! I’ve tried learning the language for her but it’s EXTREMELY difficult even for an Indian who speaks Hindi and Gujarati. I’m blown away by how you can just pick the language up so quickly. You’ve inspired me to give it another go. Some tips on learning would be great!”

Travel Beats is a leading portal for Indian Diaspora in America by Indian Eagle, a most trusted travel-booking partner of Indians in the US. Subscribe to our free newsletter for community news/stories, and explore unbeatable deals from our airline partners for flights from USA to Chennai and other Indian cities.

The post An American Orders Rava Dosa in Fluent Tamil; Indian Restaurant Owner Wishes to Offer It for Free first appeared on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

The post An American Orders Rava Dosa in Fluent Tamil; Indian Restaurant Owner Wishes to Offer It for Free appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

No other Indian food has as many stories to tell as biryani does. Rosogolla surfaces to public notice once in a while due to the age-old contention over its origin between two neighboring states: Bengal and Odisha, while biryani is the only food to enjoy pan-India attention throughout the year. The stories of biryani are as varied as the taste and flavor of the dish across the country. If lots of conversation or discussion happens over tea in India, many incidents occur over biryani. Biryani is not just a delightful treat but a bribe, bait and gift. It puts smiles on withered cheeks, brings a ray of hope amidst adverse circumstances, pushes campaigns forward, stimulates arguments and unites people.

Travel Beats, a community portal for Indian Diaspora by IndianEagle.com, curated the most interesting biryani stories from across India and abroad to make you understand the unbeatable power and popularity of biryani.

Biryani was a Silver Lining amidst Dark Clouds during Chennai Floods     

Biryani is no compromise under any circumstance! It was evident from the disappointment of some people for being served sambar rice not biryani during the Chennai floods 2015. When a group of volunteers reached out with packets of sambar rice and other relief materials to the people stuck amidst flood waters, braving the pouring rain and shoulder-leveled standing water, they met with disappointment for not serving biryani. Paradise Biryani, a most popular Hyderabadi biryani brand, sent the dish for them.

Actor’s Love for Biryani Inspired the Name of a Tamil Film    

One of the interesting biryani stories is sourced from the Tamil film industry. Among Tamil film stars, Ajith is so fond of biryani that he loves cooking it for everyone on the shooting spot. He has cooked biryani for the filming crew multiple times. It bears out to not only his penchant for biryani but his simplicity and down to earth nature. Moved by Ajith’s unfathomable love for biryani, director Venkat Prabhu named his black comedy film ‘Biriyani” in 2013. Biriyani is a thriller which was filmed in Chennai and Hyderabad.

Cockroach Biryani Led to a Munna Bhai Style Campaign in Kashmir

The story of ‘cockroach biryani’ in Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, is among the most interesting Biryani stories in India. When a local dentist and his friends found cockroaches in the biryani served to them at a multi-cuisine restaurant at Hazratbal, one of the outlets owned by Hat Trick fast food manufacturer in Kashmir, they forced their way into the kitchen and found it unhygienic to their surprise. When the ‘cockroach biryani’ story went viral on social media, a group of young foodies launched a ‘Munna Bhai style’ campaign and sent 1000 ‘get well soon’ letters to the restaurant owner. The campaign caught attention of the Food Safety Department and led to sealing of the cockroach restaurant.

Homemade Biryani Forced Dhoni to Vacate Grand Kakatiya in Hyderabad  

One of the Hyderabadi biryani stories is related to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was captain of the Indian Cricket team in 2014. He along with his team vacated the 5 star Hotel Grand Kakatiya where 180 rooms were booked for the team and BCCI officials, and moved to Taj Krishna due to a fiasco over homemade Hyderabadi biryani. One of Dhoni’s teammates brought homemade biryani for the entire team, which Hotel Kakatiya refused to allow within the premises. Hyderabadi biryani is something exclusive to die for!

Biryani Entertains Participants in National Shooting Championships   

The 59^th National Shooting Championship held in Delhi in 2015 is a memorable event for mouthwatering biryani served to the participants. The shooters from all over India were served delicious biryani at a nominal cost. Nawabuddin is the man who cooked and served the dish to them. Popularly known as Nawab Bhai, he has been cooking biryani for all shooting competitions in Delhi for past 6 years. He himself is a shooter and has participated in twenty national shooting championships. Eminent shooters are fans of Nawab Bhai’s biryani.

Biryani Failed to Make Rajnikanth’s Kochadaiiyaan a Success

Do you know that biryani was used as a bait to make superstar Rajnikanth’s Kochadaiiyaan a success in 2013 in Bangalore? When the fans of Rajnikanth felt that the film was going to be a box office disaster, they organized a rally in Bangalore to promote the film and promised the locals free biryani for watching the film. However, biryani could not save Kochadaiiyaan from being a failure.

Biryani Got People Together for a Communal Work in Kerala    

One of the latest biryani stories is how biryani is used to motivate people for a communal work. Recently, IAS officer Prashant Nair promised platefuls of Malabar biryani to a group of people for cleaning of a 14-acre lake in Kozhikode, Kerala. Removing water hyacinth from the lake was a herculean task, but his promise of biryani made it a success.

Biryani Saved a Bride from Marrying a Wrong Groom      

Anything can happen over biryani in India. Marriages can be fixed or broken over biryani. In 2014 in Karnataka, a bride called off the wedding over the ruckus created by the groom party over the taste of biryani. Even the bride’s family sent 30kg of biryani to the groom’s house but it came back as the groom’s family was fond of mutton biryani.

Biryani Energized Political Workers during Elections in Hyderabad  

Some of the stories of biryani in India are politically interesting. You might wonder what biryani has to do with politics in India. During the parliamentarian elections in 2014, Hyderabad witnessed a boom in sales of biryani. Demand for chicken and mutton biryani was tremendously high across Hyderabad during the electoral period in 2014.

Biryani Brought Good Luck to DMK Party in Chennai in 2009

Biryani not only keeps political workers on the go during elections but also plays an active role in success of electoral campaigns. Chennai witnessed the power of biryani in 2009 when the DMK party won elections in Tamil Nadu. The winning party distributed biryani packets to voters during the campaigns apart from offering usual baits like liquor, clothes and mobile phones. The popularity of biryani was so utilized to tempt common people that the 2009 election in Chennai was notoriously nicknamed ‘Biryani Bypolls.’

Biryani was a Gift from Sania Mirza to Dilwale Team        

Biryani is not just taken advantage of as bait or bribe. It is a pretty gift too. When Sania Mirza visited Shah Rukh Khan and Farah Khan during the shooting of Dilwale in 2015, she carried a box of Hyderabadi biryani for them.

Two Indian Restaurants Locked their Horns over Biryani in USA

Not only India but also the United States has interesting biryani stories to tell. Two Indian businesses in the US – Paradise Biryani Pointe and Paradise Biryani Grill – locked their horns in a legal battle over biryani at a New Jersey court. Both of these Indian restaurants in New Jersey serve the dish. In 2011, Paradise Biryani Pointe moved the court against its rival Paradise Biryani Grill accusing the latter of infringing the former’s trademark and biryani recipe which the former claimed to have developed over 7 years.

Read More Interesting Food Stories and News

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The post Power and Popularity of Biryani: Interesting Stories from India to America first appeared on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

The post Power and Popularity of Biryani: Interesting Stories from India to America appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

The morning a ladle full of dosa batter makes it to a heated pan and then spirals from the middle of the pan to the outermost edge, emitting a fresh aroma that Indian immigrants in USA are quite familiar with, it leads to a fulfilling day. The man who replaced the time-intensive preparation for dosa with his readily available dosa batter making it possible for the nuclear Indian families to cook and grab a quick breakfast in the United States, where life is a rat race, is 66-year-old Mani Krishnan from India. Next to Nestlé’s 2-minute Maggi magic, his dosa batter sold under the brand called Shastha Foods became a staple in Indian kitchens across the US and Canada over the years.

Celebrating World Dosa Day 2021, Travel Beats, a leading overseas Indian community portal by IndianEagle.com, offers a sneak peek into Tamil Nadu-born Mani Krishnan’s journey from rural India to America, from two grinders to a 35,000-sqft manufacturing unit, from selling hardware to making dosa batter……

It was 1977 when he traveled to the US with a mind full of ideas as well as dreams, and joined his immediate family living in San Jose, California after graduating in commerce and following a short stint as an accountant in Mumbai. Before making his foray into the nascent Indian food market in the US, he ran an export business dealing in hard disk drives, motherboards, processors, etc. for 18 long years. After an initial success, the business hit the rocks following a bumpy ride for two decades. However, his passion to be own boss did not evaporate. Prior to exporting hardware products to IT businesses in India, he was hired for a routine job at a tech company in San Francisco – which he started disliking.

With Indians migrating to the US and yearning for authentic Indian food there during the dot-com boom in the late 1990s, Mani Krishnan hit upon the idea of selling idli and dosa batter – which took shape in 2003. He mortgaged his house, the only thing he could pawn for the potential success of his new business idea. With his wife’s support, he started manufacturing, packaging, labeling and distribution of idli and dosa batter from home, in order to cater to the growing demand for easy-to-cook Indian dishes.

Distribution of the dosa batter packs was the very first challenge that he faced. He went on to visit grocery stores in San Jose and request them to accommodate his product on a shelf. He even agreed to be paid whenever the product would sell. He had a hard time convincing the store owners about his compliance with the FDI guidelines right from manufacturing to labeling. Initially, Mani Krishnan’s dosa batter found space only in 10 stores. In spite of the best efforts he put in, the product made only 1,000 sales in the first year. By 2005, his brand, Shastha Foods, started gaining momentum as a household name in California. In 2006, the demand for Shastha Foods’ dosa batter rose in other parts of the west coast.

Today, Mani Krishnan – the founder of Shastha Foods in the US – prides himself on distributing the batter to over 350 stores and selling four packets every minute. The launch of an online portal facilitating the booking of orders for and the delivery of dosa batter and other products gave the business a competitive advantage. Shastha Foods sold over 170 million dosa batter packets in the US and Canada over the past 17 years. A remarkable journey, indeed!

However, Mani Krishnan – the king of idli and dosa batter in America – did not let his journey cease on achieving several milestones. Rather, he continues it through experimentation with varieties of dosa and idli batter, and the experimentation began at home. Today, Shastha Foods’ merchandise includes batter for multiple dosa varieties, such as oats dosa, millet dosa, brown rice dosa, and pesarattu. He makes sure to take feedback from friends, families and colleagues before moving a product to a large-scale production. Most of his products, ranging from ready-to-cook packets to sweet boxes, sell like a hotcake on such festive occasions as Ugadi and Pongal in the USA.

The post Meet the King of Dosa, who Makes it Possible for Indian Families to Cook and Grab Quick Breakfast in USA first appeared on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

The post Meet the King of Dosa, who Makes it Possible for Indian Families to Cook and Grab Quick Breakfast in USA appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.