Long vacations in the UK, US and south-east Asia no longer involve the culinary nightmares of 20 years ago for Indian tourists. When they tire of bland local fare, there’s no dearth of Indian restaurants, run by the vast Indian diaspora and reasonably authentic, to get a taste of home.
The news, though, is that these destinations are becoming passé. Increasingly, it’s to countries in Indo-China, the Balkans, West Asia (the parts that are still peaceful, that is) and South America to which rich and upper middle-class Indians are heading to spend the generous forex allowance the Indian government now permits.
But as a Vietnamese restaurateur once told me, “Indians no eat all foods; velly big ploblem”. True enough, Indians with their many particularities of diet can find mealtimes a chore in many countries off the regular tourist beat. Yet where many Indians go boldly, can Indian restaurants be far behind?
As the listing here shows, there are Indian options available in cities from Dubrovnik to Peru for tourists who are so inclined. The names can be misleading, however: Oh Calcutta in Auckland, an award-winning restaurant, bears no resemblance to the well-known Bengali restaurant chain in India.
The restaurant, run by a chef called Meena Anand, has the standard north Indian/Mughlai fare. This, sadly, is true of almost all the menus on offer — the infinite varieties of the Indian sub-continent are largely absent. In Luang Prabang, the stunning UN heritage town in Laos, Nisha restaurant will give you an authentic dhaba experience: it offers, among other things, aloo ghobi, aloo mutter, “Dhal Fry” and rotis. It could be a comforting break from a bewildering local menu that may contain: dog, frog and, yes, even beef!
Take off with Natarajan 