Indian eatery hires Indira Gandhi's former chef
New Indian eatery on Newark Avenue hires Indira Gandhi's former chef
Monday, April 09, 2007
By COTTON DELO
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
The stretch on Newark Avenue west of Kennedy Boulevard is densely packed with Indian eateries and shops - earning it the title of Jersey City's "Little India" - but the owners of a new restaurant are still betting they have an edge over their competitors.
"Taste does matter, wherever you are," said Meera Barchha, 29, who owns Bolo Curry, 839 Newark Ave., with her husband, Minesh Chandarana, and held its grand opening Thursday night. "If you really want to prove that statement, you have to have competition."
The Indian-born Jersey City couple have a secret weapon. They hired Panna Lal Sharma - who has cooked for Indian luminaries and competed in myriad international food festivals in his career - as their executive chef.
He was a private chef for Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi from 1969 to 1984 - when she was felled by assassins' bullets.
"When I talk about Indira Gandhi, I feel very sentimental," said Sharma, 65. "She gave me a chance to visit the world. She was not only a politician - she was a mother."
Sharma immigrated to the United States in 1987 and has cooked for restaurants in the New York metropolitan area.
He's a fourth-generation cook and several of his recipes originate in his family.
Mrs. Gandhi adored South Indian, French and Italian food, so the Kashmir-born Sharma learned to diversify.
Sharma's principal cooking genre is mughlai cuisine - which he compares to French cooking due to its richness.
Though the menu contains widely known entrees like chicken tikka masala and tandoori chicken, there are unusual flourishes, like Sharma's mango and strawberry chutney sauce.
The Hindi word "bolo" translates to "say" - making the restaurant's name, roughly, "Say Curry.