Flavours of India come to the city
Little India has opened in Palmerston North and is now in its second week.
The new restaurant on Broadway has its signature orange signage above the door.
Diners can experience the traditional flavours and heady spices from Punjab cooked in the traditional way in a clay pot over charcoals in a tandoor oven.
The herbs and spices that flavour Little India’s dishes follow the 5000-year-old Ayurvedic plan to naturally balance the body’s metabolism.
And the spice levels offered are from the mild through to extremely hot.
This authentic dining has been brought to the city by the Gill family, and Little India on Broadway is the 16th to open in New Zealand. Harry Singh is Little India Palmerston North’s director.
The Gill family say they welcome diners as though to their home, where all the recipes are from the kitchen of their paternal grandmother Premjit Kaur Gill. It is Premjit’s photograph on the wall at the entrance to Little India.
Premjit also trains all the Little India head chefs in her kitchen in Chandigarh, India before they are sent to New Zealand. Each has been vetted by Premjit to maintain the Little India dining standard.
Premjit’s grandson Arjun was in Palmerston North for Little India’s opening and was in the kitchen when they linked to his grandmother in India when the tandoor oven was lit. The coals in the tandoor will burn continuously.
“People really like their food hot here,” Arjun Gill said.
Little India has been welcomed by other restaurants in Palmerston North. Arjun has written a recipe book
so diners can cook the foods they’ve eaten at Little India.
All the recipes were cooked in Arjun’s kitchen before the book was launched.