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Curry On the Go: Varsha and Suresh Dadlani are the quintessential globe trotters. Going by their travelers tales and the number of places they have visited you’d think they’d be in the diplomatic services, but little did business entrepreneur Suresh Dadlani know when he challenged his then newly wed wife Varsha that she couldn’t cook as well as an aunt of his that not would he only eat crow, he will be surrounded by other feathered friends on a regular basis- on the kitchen table. Varsha is a twin, and lived in a joint family, where she was raised till she was 12 by an aunt. While she was not allowed much in the kitchen she nevertheless managed to imbibe the essence of gourmet cooking from her aunt. It came to a point where her mom became convinced that whatever her young daughter touched would turn to cooking gold. “So mom would say, some guests are coming, just stir the food your way. I know it’ll taste delicious,” recalls Varsha laughingly. “I used to cook simple food then but I guess I had what they call “the touch”. One fine day, in the early sixties, after a few years of heading to Spain for vacation Suresh Dadlani chose Portugal as a new vacation spot. ‘There we met the then ambassador to Portugal, Mr. Bhalla who told me that there were 80 thousand Portuguese of Indian especially Gujarati descent but not one good Indian restaurant, so why don’t we open one here?’ Suresh says he told him there was no way that would happen, because he was a businessman but cooking wasn’t really his line of business. “The most I had done was enjoy good cooking,” says Suresh with a laugh. Suresh says the Ambassador Mr. Bhalla helped them tremendously and a full page ad was taken out in the weekly circular the embassy sent around. Their first customers were Gujaratis and the restaurant became extremely successful. The most popular dishes were the grilled non veg dishes. The Gujarati men in Portugal were non vegetarian though their wives were mostly vegetarian, says Suresh. Buoyed by the success of the restaurant the couple went home to Ghana where they owned a large property and converted it into a restaurant they named Haveli. Both restaurants are thriving to this day in partnership with their manager Prem in Portugal and a lady Pushpa in Africa. The couple returned to London where their children were in school and Varsha opened a factory to supply rolls, chilled foods and sandwich fillings on contract. Varsha also supplied an African chili sauce to a company in Europe. “I have had to go to great lengths for some of the recipes, and this was one of those. I started looking around for someone who would be an expert. Then one man said his mother in law was renowned for her recipe which could be kept out and never fermented. So I got in touch with her daughter and she brought the lady home. After trying out her recipe and then improvising on my own I came up with the sauce that was liked by this company, but it is a long laborious process. The proportions, which chili powder has the best color etc, there is a lot that goes into it.” Varsha says while she has done very well, having a good staff has always been a headache. ‘If it’s a man and he knows a little bit of cooking he will usually have a problem doing things your way. Most men don’t like taking directions from a woman.” The Dadlanis decided to move from London when racism reared its ugly head. Their daughter is married and lives in New York and Varsha’s entire family is in the US, so they packed their bags and moved to Atlanta in mid 2002. Suresh says in the three years that he has lived here not once has he heard a racial slur or an inappropriate comment from any one. While the couple runs their very successful fast food café Curry on the Go at the centrally located global mall, Suresh has also started his export business in the US. Film director Gurinder Chadha was ecstatic when she ate their chicken kababs, and Varsha says she found the European clients to be the toughest to please. ‘London is swarming with Indian restaurants, and it is a very competitive market. The customers are very discerning and know good Indian cuisine from bad. I had to come up with new and exciting things all the time, create simple yet delicious things for them to come back.’ Varsha says among her most popular dishes have been her chicken tikka masala, and prawn dishes, especially a prawn tartar that she makes. While Suresh has enjoyed meeting the variety of people who venture in, across the counter, Varsha continues to work at a break neck speed and is always ready to take on new challenges. She says over the years she has learnt much and accumulated thousands of recipes. So what at does she plan to do with her treasure trove of culinary knowledge? “Well I’m a workaholic but when I retire may be I will write a recipe book of my most outstanding recipes, and leave it for my grandkids.” 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 KavitaChhibber.com presents two specialty dishes (one non-vegetarian and one vegetarian) from Curry on the Go courtesy of Varsha Dadlani. Murgh Tamatar (Tomato Chicken) 1 chicken cut into pieces Take the poppy seeds and the milk and grind/blend into a paste. Grind chilies, ginger, and garlic into a paste. Heat the oil , put in bay leaves and chopped onions. Cook until onions turn pink. Add the ginger garlic paste and cook for two minutes. Add the chicken pieces and fry for 5 to 10 minutes. Add tomato puree, turmeric and salt, cover and cook on medium heat with lid on till chicken becomes tender. Add the poppy seed and milk paste, and the garam masala and cook for a few minutes. Vegetable Makhanwala 250 grams of French beans Take a little oil and heat it. Add the cumin seeds and the chopped onion. Cook till onion turns golden brown, then add tomato puree and stir till the oil separates. Add the boiled vegetables, paneer cubes, salt, tandoori and coriander powder. Stir in the garam masala and fresh cilantro..cook on low heat for a few minutes.
Do you have a favorite restaurant in your city that you would like to review for Kavita? Email your piece to editor@Kavitachhibber.com. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these columns are solely those of the interviewee(s) and/or authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editor/publisher. Archives: All Material © Copyright Kavita Chhibber and respective authors. 
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Varsha married Suresh and the couple moved to Africa to live in a joint family and there came the challenge that Suresh will probably never live down. “ His aunt was an amazing cook and she made all sorts of international and exotic cuisine, entertained bureaucrats and diplomats, played bridge and really was a woman with an international outlook,” says Varsha, ‘ and my husband said to me one day you can not cook as well as her. I said don’t challenge me. I’ll prove to be a better cook than her.” Then began a culinary journey of sorts. Having been a working woman prior to her marriage and then coming to live in an affluent household in Africa where servants and maids took care of everything, Varsha had a lot of free time on her hands. “I started watching the aunt cook and then I would quickly go to my room and write the recipes down secretly. Soon I started looking at cook books and even improvising certain recipes on my own. I would throw big parties and when I saw a lot of people really looked forward to being invited again, I would also try to make different dishes each time.” Varsha’s mother in law would praise every culinary effort and she got plenty of opportunity to present her talent at home as her husband’s family was very fond of good food and entertaining people.
But Varsha had other plans and decided this was the time for her to start her own business and she would indeed like to open an Indian restaurant in Portugal. ‘This was out first trip to Portugal,” says Suresh, ‘We had no clue about running a restaurant, but Varsha was adamant so we went ahead.” The Dadlanis bought a Portuguese restaurant, renamed it Star of India, and got the equipment from London where they were based in the early 60s. Varsha went to a restaurant in London for 2 days just to see how the kitchen was run took some notes and started the restaurant in Portugal 3-4 weeks later.
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