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Jersey City, New Jersey: If you tell an Indian you just had a Gujarati thali (meal) and topped it off with Chom Chom (Bengali sweet), you will find a perplexed Indian in front of you. Surprisingly, you can find this unique combination of Gujarati food and Bengali sweets at Bengali Sweet Corner, a restaurant located literally at the corner of Newark Avenue, Jersey City.
The astonishment behind this combination lies in the fact that all the 28 states in India have extremely varying dishes. The word ‘Indian’ does not do justice to how diverse the food can be. From the spices, oils, and cooking methods, everything differs from region to region. In fact, two neighbors in India could be cooking Biryani but use different recipes for the same dish.
The dining industry in New Jersey and New York is changing this reality by adding less popular dishes and creating an amalgamation of dishes from different regions on their menus. It is a very relevant example of how immigration often compels innovation to stray true to one’s roots. In this case, it just happens to represent India for what it is known for, diversity. It is not an easy feat to achieve for chefs because the Indian palate is tough to please. There is also the additional pressure of Indian-origin people in America seeking authenticity and homely dishes.
“Authenticity is very important to me. If I go to an Indian restaurant that serves me sweet butter chicken, I won’t like that because that’s not how it is made in India,” said Ishank Singh, 30, an avid foodie from India, currently a business student in New York.
Often the question of authenticity in Indian dining also comes with scrutinizing whether the regional identity of the chef matches the cuisine. But the story of Bengali Sweet Corner proves otherwise. “The Punjabi aunty who cooks, she is the one who cooks Gujarati food also.” said Mukesh Kumar, the owner of the Bengali Sweet Corner. “It so happened that when the Gujarati people started cooking, we did try, even though they said that it wasn’t the same taste,” He continued referring to the head chef Indra, fondly known as aunty by everybody including the customers. Even though she is Punjabi, customers prefer the Gujarati food she cooks.
According to Allison Rittman, a certified Research Chef, and owner of Culinary Culture, the culinary scene with the present generation is changing. Instead of having one dish everybody is familiar with, people are willing to take the risk of trying new dishes. “Younger millennials and gen z, they don’t want inauthentic food. They want something that’s new and different. Show me the newest, brightest shiniest thing. So, you don’t have to dumb it down because they will try it to see if they like it,” she mentioned. This helps chefs and restaurants gain confidence in upgrading their menus with dishes people are not familiar with. This is not only true for Americans who have not acquainted with Indian food but also for Indians themselves.
Culinary ignorance tends to become a pattern with people living within their regional bubble. People in North India do not know about South-Indian food beyond dosa (rice crepes) and idlis (savory rice cake) or assume east Indian food to be smelly. This lack of awareness creates a hostile space for unfamiliar foods as evident from the 2020 Bollywood movie Axone: A Recipe for Disaster in which a northeastern group living in Delhi struggles to secretly cook a native dish called Axone for their friend’s marriage.
Mukesh is fighting a similar assumption about all Indian food being spicy by including Gujarati food at the Bengali Sweet Corner. “For other cuisines, if you go anywhere else in India, they are more spicy but the Gujarati food is something which is very in between. You will like the taste and variety,” he stated.
Offering variety in Indian cuisine helps grab the attention of the American consumer according to Allison.
“When you realize that it is so delicious you want to learn more about the region and understand it but an average consumer doesn’t have that education. Especially in the US, food that has been introduced has mostly been North Indian, Punjabi. It is a very specific small subset and that’s what they are familiar with,” she mentioned.
Restaurants like Gazab in New York City offer not only North Indian dishes but South Indian dishes like Goan Shrimp Vindaloo from Goa, Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani from Hyderabad, and pahadi or dishes from the mountainous regions of India such as Pahadi Paneer tikka. This encourages consumer awareness among Americans and pushes Indians to try the food out of their comfort zone.
According to the immigration research library, there were about 2.7 million Indian immigrants residing in the United States in 2019. For such an enormous immigrant population, at the end of the day, Indian food is an important way to cure homesickness. “When I was staying in the UK for two years, I had the experience of the fact that it's not easy to find Indian ingredients,” said Ishank, who was better prepared for his journey abroad this time. “I brought like twenty different types of masalas (spices) from India,” he mentioned.
Indian-origin residents and immigrants in America tend to stock their pantries when they come from India with a bag full of spices and ingredients, but time doesn’t always permit them to cook. Plus, the stocked spices can only last for so long. Indian restaurants bridge this gap for them and help them take a break to connect their tastebuds back to their homeland. This makes Indians stick to restaurants that specialize in food from their region and divides the customers rather than bringing Indians from different regions under the same roof.
Ishank believes there is a mid-way to raising consumer awareness and also serving authentic Indian food. “In India, you have food courts in different malls, in different markets. There is one common sitting area with kitchens all around. This is a similar concept to, I think, it’s called Urban Singapore Hawkers. There is an opportunity for something like this for Indian food as well because India has so much to offer right, something of this sort where there are kitchens from different parts of the country serving two-three authentic dishes. I think it would be a good concept to have in New York, which is missing at this point of time,” he said.
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