Restaurant India An oasis with the taste of the mysterious India

Located in the heart of Plovdiv, restaurant India serves authentic atmosphere and cuisine. The owner – Tommy – has spent many years living in France, but he is inextricably bound up with India where his wife comes from. Tony applies his love for Indian culture to the appearance of the restaurant. The interior has been suited to the colours of India as Tommy has brought all decoration from there. His wife is a painter and she has taken care of the wall murals of Ganesh and other typical Indian motifs.

(scroll down for the interview)

The tasty food is prepared by three Indians, two of whom we spoke to. Jayanti and Narender have been invited by Tommy to cook at the restaurant. They prefer working with fresh ingredients. Jayanti cooks all the dishes strictly following the traditions of his national cuisine while Narender is a real experimenter and artist, said Tommy and the manager – Petar.

Jayanti came to Bulgaria a year ago for the opening of the restaurant while Narender has only been here for a few months because of the restaurant’s expansion. Both of them like Bulgaria very much although they don’t know it well. They enjoy walking around Plovdiv. Every morning they can be seen running along the Maritsa river. Narender notes that the climate of the country appeals to him because it’s not as hot as in India. They don’t know the Bulgarian cuisine very well, but Narender shared with us that he likes Musaka, though he thinks it’s actually a Greek dish.

Neither of them misses their families because they frequently contact them via Skype. They miss, however, some products found in India, but not here. Also, they miss products which back home they can find fresh but here these are only available packed which makes it harder to work. That is why Tommy tries to provide what’s needed directly from India.

Jayanti shares that during his childhood his favourite dish was kheer. This is the well-known in Bulgaria milk with rice, but with various spiced and fruits. To Narended, everything that his mother prepared was his favourite; especially curry with pumpkin and yoghurt. His motivation for taking up cooking is that there aren’t many jobs in India, but in the same time everyone needs food. This is the reason why being a cook is a secure job. He is the one who likes experimenting and feels like a real painter.

The dishes making the restaurant worthy of a visit are: Chicken Masala, Panir (Paneer), Naan flatbread, which is baked in a special Tandoor clay oven – one of the healthiest ways of cooking in the world. The dough is rolled out and stuck to the walls of the special furnace. These are the main preferences of the restaurant’s clients, who are mainly foreigners. According to the owner, they [the foreigners] know the cuisine, know what to order and what to expect and based on what they have eaten, they always come back to the restaurant.

Tommy, Peter, and the Indian cooks are an awesome team and together they take care of the exotic oasis in Plovdiv. It is their intention to popularize Indian culture by celebrating various Indian celebrations and rituals.

Interview: Danny Kotzeva for Union for Independent Creative Communication
Photos: Photo Youth Group for Union for Independent Creative Communication
Translation from Bulgarian: Stanimir Stoilov for Union for Independent Creative Communication
Illustration: Kremena Cholakova for Compote Collective
30 November 2015