The Palace of Asia Chain of Restaurants:
"Amitabh Bachchan Wanted to Eat Here."

By Kavita Chhibber

I first met Nainshad Manekshaw,or Nick as he is popularly known, a few years ago and was immediately struck by his dignity, an innate humility, warmth and his intelligence. That he was a wonderful cook came to light some months later when I tasted some of the choicest dishes from his restaurant.

But that was not how his story began. Nick (pictured left) was 15 when his father died. Growing up in Bombay after his father’s death was a struggle, but Nick was an ace cricketer who went on to play in the Ranji Trophy and worked for the Indian Railways as an 18-year-old while putting himself through college at the same time. Soon he joined one of the big corporate houses in India and rapidly climbed up, only to chuck it all and migrate to United States with his wife and two young sons in 1981. His other siblings and mother had already migrated earlier.

Manekshaw reached New Jersey on a return ticket fully prepared to go back if things didn’t work out. "The Indian population was scarce. If we spotted an Indian in the mall we would talk for hours."

Having done well in India, Manekshaw was unprepared for the challenges of starting all over again from scratch. “I very quickly found out that the Indian education and corporate experience was not going to cut it here.”

After struggling for some time Manekshaw found his first job-baking bread in a bread factory. "As I walked in on my first day, I hated myself and hated America," recalls Manekshaw, "but I decided to hang in there because I definitely saw some distinct advantage for the children, and the one thing that really impressed me was the fact that there was no corruption."

Luckily since Manekshaw was working the 4:00 AM shift, he would be done by 2 p.m. and that left him enough time to interview with corporations. After a series of interviews and rejections, a Fortune 100 company in New Jersey finally hired him as salesman. Residing in a one bedroom run down apartment and supporting a family of four on a meager salary was extremely difficult, but through sheer dedication and hard work Manekshaw concluded his first year in sales amongst the top five producers nationwide and a rookie of the year award to boot. He never looked back.

Although his corporate career was going well, like most immigrants from India, Manekshaw had a burning desire to be in business for himself and opened his first Mexican cuisine restaurant Marita’s Cantina in Pennsylvania in 1982 along with three partners followed by a second one also in Pennsylvania in 1987.

In those days, Indian cuisine was just becoming known, but though the food offered by most restaurants was decent, the ambiance and cleanliness left a lot to be desired. Manekshaw saw the potential and in 1987 and opened Palace of Asia, the first upscale Indian restaurant of it’s kind along with his good friend and Master Chef Sukhdev Kabow in Ft. Washington, Penn. "The restaurant took off instantaneously and revolutionized the concept of Indian cuisine in the restaurant industry, receiving several awards and accolades from each and every food critic," says Manekshaw. It had a banquet hall that could seat 150 people apart from a separate seating capacity for another 150 people in the restaurant, an unknown thing then.

In 1990, Nick and his partner opened another Palace of Asia in Lawrenceville New Jersey, which was also a smashing success. Since the Indian community was growing rapidly, Manekshaw in partnership with Sukhdev Kabow (pictured right), opened a huge Banquet and Catering facility in Mercerville, New Jersey, in 1995, which hosted weddings as well and could accommodate up to 400 people. The banquet hall did brisk business till it was sold off recently so that Nick could concentrate on his growing restaurant chain, as a third restaurant was opened in Wilmington Delaware and a fourth one will be opening in March 2006 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.

Nick says he has never faced discrimination except for one minor incident. Business was brisk as usual even after 9/11. "I think people know me and the fact that I’m a people’s person helps. I think it’s important to educate America about who we are."

So have Indians become more health conscious over the years and is grilled cuisine more popular? Nick laughs and responds, "When Indians go out to eat they DO NOT diet unless they have major health problems. They want to enjoy themselves and so malai kofta and chicken tikka masala remains our most popular dishes to date. People enjoy our tandoori dishes also because these are grilled and considered low fat, but we keep introducing all kinds of exotic cuisine. We recently introduced a jalapeno sabzi which has become very popular. There is however, mercifully a definite decline in drinking over the years."

Nick says he has had two very strange experiences as a result of people getting drunk in wedding receptions. The first time a totally sozzled man walked up to him and asked "Is this your hall and is the food provided by you?" Nick said yes. "The man slapped me twice across the face and said - wah what amazing food, what an amazing hall! In his drunken stupor he thought he was patting me on my back in appreciation. Luckily I kept my cool and the hosts took him away."

A second incident happened when people got so drunk that a brawl erupted on the dance floor and Nick had to call the cops. One drunken guest asked petulantly, "Who stopped the party?" Another drunkard replied pointing to Nick "That guy in the green shirt stopped it." "I went up to them and said 'Yes indeed I did stop the party and do you know why?' They looked at me and asked 'Why?' I said 'Because this shirt is red and not green, that’s why!'"

Nick Manekshaw has a very loyal following and in turn he remains true to his clients. It was never more evident when one time movie star Amitabh Bachchan decided to eat at his restaurant but asked that the restaurant be closed to the public. Nick refused and said he would give them a secluded spot but his clients weren’t going any where. "Then they said he will come in but there will be no picture taking. I said I don’t have a camera and I don’t see any one here who has come here armed with one because he had a sudden vision that Amitabh Bachchan would be showing up here. I am big fan but I have no desire what so ever to take a picture, and that was that!"

Manekshaw says he has enjoyed living in this country and come to the realization: "Whenever any one says America is a land of opportunity he is absolutely correct. Unlike in any other country, if you are willing to work hard here, the rewards are yours to keep."

Do you have a favorite restaurant in your city that you would like to review for Kavita?

Email your piece to editor@Kavitachhibber.com.

SPECIALTY RECIPES

Here are two specialty dishes (one non-vegetarian and one vegetarian) courtesy Palace of Asia’s chef par excellence Sukhdev Kabow

CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA

Ingredients:

2 lbs. cubed chicken breast
2 teaspoons garlic & ginger paste
2 medium size onions
½ teaspoon red chili powder
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
¾ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon tomato puree
1 cup water
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 & ½ cups heavy cream
Finely chopped fresh coriander

How to cook:

Cut onions into small pieces and put it in a blender.
Add garlic & ginger paste, red chili powder, cumin seeds, salt, and water in the blender and grind everything together for a thick pulp.
Take a sauce pan, put vegetable oil in it, and bring it to boil.
Pour the above mixture in the sauce pan and cook it until golden brown.
Add tomato puree, heavy milk, and chicken cubes.
For exotic red color gravy, you can add a few drops of red color.
Let it simmer until the chicken is completely cooked and the gravy becomes a thick sauce.
Place the final product in a serving utensil, garnish with fresh coriander and serve.

Ingredients and recipe good for 4 guests.

METHI MALAI MUTTER

Ingredients:

2 lbs. finely chopped Methi
½ lb. green peas
2 teaspoons garlic & ginger paste
2 medium size onions
½ teaspoon red chili powder
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon garam masala
Seven to 10 pieces finely diced hot green chilies
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups heavy cream
Finely chopped fresh coriander

How to cook:

Finely dice onions, garlic and ginger.
Take a sauce pan, put vegetable oil in it, and bring it to boil.
Sautee onions, garlic and ginger until golden brown.
Add chili powder, garam masala, salt, and green chilies.
Add Methi and Green Peas into the pan and cook it completely.
Add heavy cream and let it cook until homogeneous thick.
Place the final product in a serving utensil, garnish it with fresh coriander and serve.

Ingredients and recipe good for 4 guests.