Little India

A week or two ago, The Pastry Chef and I took advantage of one of the many extracurricular activities offered by her school, and went on a walking tour of Little India. If I'd realized I'd agreed to meet TPS before noon in a borough, I might have been less enthusiastic, but we had a fantastic time, and came home with lots of delightful Indian treats, including the candied fennel seeds so often found on the way out the door of Indian restaurants.

I was quite prepared to give you the blow my blow meeself, and then TPS alerted me to this delightful write-up by the more than delightful Kate Morgan. As she was taking notes, and I was struggling to remember the names of the places we visited, posting her article seems to make the most sense. I highly recommend a trip.

Little India Walking Tour

On Sunday April 27th, 2008 a dozen alliance members met up in Jackson Heights Queens, otherwise known as Little India, for a culinary tour by Surbhi Sahni, Executive Pastry Chef of Devi Restaurant.

The day kicked off at Maharaja Sweets where we sampled fresh onion bahji’s and a selection of Delhi-style sweets made from condensed milk, washed down with a cup of chai. Locals believe it is good to begin the day with something sweet in the hopes the rest of the day will be just as sweet.

Next stop was a tour of Patel Brothers, one of the leading Indian food stores known for its authentic Indian staples including a wall of spices, dozens of fresh breads and a fascinating display of unusual vegetables from fresh curry leaves and turmeric to baby ginger and Ghia, a squash traditionally used in many Indian dishes.

After an engaging presentation by Surbhi guiding us in the selection of spices and the preparation of almost every item in the store we made our way to Nanking for lunch. Nanking is an interesting restaurant serving Indo-Chinese, Indian Food prepared with a Chinese culinary influence. We sampled both fusion dishes and some traditional Indian fare including Manchurian cauliflower, a mustard leaf spinach curry and Kadhi Pakora, a rich curry dish with a yogurt and chickpea flour base with delicate vegetable pakora pieces.

Our last stop was Butala Emporium where some serious shopping took place, from authentic cookware to traditional music.

—Kate Morgan