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About three years ago, I was sitting backstage at Chicago's Lyric Opera House, simultaneously watching and live-tweeting the results of one of the biggest nights of the year in food media: the James Beard Awards. For me, one of the most memorable wins of the weekend went to chef Chintan Pandya, who won “New York Best Chef” for his work at Dhamaka. Even now it still stands out, not just because he snagged the greatest selfie of the night, but because his speech thanked his right-hand man and business partner Roni Mazumdar for siding with his craziest dreams.
“I always came up with ideas which were very idiot and stupid. And over the 22 years that I’ve been cooking, nobody believed in it,” he said in his acceptance speech. “I met this guy [Mazumdar] five years back and…I realised he is a bigger idiot and stupid than me because he believes in my ideas. Because he believed in my idiocracy and stupidity, that I’m standing here.” And that wild idea? Introducing the real cuisine of India, no apologies given.
Aptly naming their company Unapologetic Foods, Pandya and Mazumdar have been on a journey to serve the foods of their heritage in “its full, honest form.” Coming to the scene first with modernist Indian restaurant Rahi, it was their follow-up restaurant, Adda Indian Canteen, that started grabbing all the attention. During its first year in 2018, it received two stars from then critic Pete Wells of The New York Times for its “fierce biryani,” “gorgeously soft” paneer and “messy riot” of chaats, all of which were “presented without apology.”
Just a year later, the two followed up with another firework in the form of Dhamaka. Accurately translating to explosion, the eatery inside Essex Market leaned on Pandya’s extensive travels throughout lesser-known parts of the region, with stopovers in Nagaland, Jharkhand and rural Bengal. With a tagline of "celebrating the forgotten side of India,” Pandya replicated his favorite street snack in Mumbai, fried whole fish made better with a dip of green chutney, and doh kheloh, a snacking dish of fiery goat kidney and testicles from the northern state of Meghalaya.
“I wasn’t looking for restaurant dishes. I was looking for food from homes, villages and festivals," he said. "I was understanding traditions and the mindset of the people of the real India.”
And it is this hunger for exploration that is key to their success. Masawala & Sons revived Mazumdar’s father’s long-standing restaurant in Park Slope, removing crowd pleasers of chicken tikka masala and replacing them with dishes he ate growing up in West Bengal, namely fermented lentil dumplings and plates of golden fried biyebarir fish. And then there is Semma. In the very capable hands of chef Vijay Kumar, the West Village restaurant explores the chef’s home state of Tamil Nadu via red-tinged gunpowder dosas and simmering tamarind-laced snails recreated from his childhood. Today, Semma stands as the only Michelin-starred Indian restaurant in New York, and just this year, Kumar went home with a James Beard Award. Pandya knew that presenting his food in this way could easily be a wager, especially in the brutally honest arena that is New York. But, he reasoned, the city deserved a taste of the real thing.
"It’s not that New Yorkers suddenly became interested in regional food. It’s that we finally gave them a chance to taste it," he said. "Before, no one was showing them the real stuff. Dhamaka doesn’t just serve food—it tells stories. Semma, with Vijay Kumar, is deeply rooted in his life, his home. People want truth, they want personality."
And now, the duo plan to take another risk, this time at Time Out Market Union Square. Adding to their roster of fast casual eats—the duo are also behind Rowdy Rooster—the team will finally debut Kebabwala, bringing the energy of a New Delhi night market to, well, this Market. And it's been a long time coming. Initially announced in 2021, the kebab stand has been on hold due to gasline issues as reported by Eater, and, according to Pandya, the team was waiting “until the timing and location were right.” Soon, Pandya and team will man the open fire, grilling and charring the likes of marinated chicken, goat and bison. Biryanis once reserved for the royals will also hold court here, and, to help any fiery tongues, the stand will also feature one of India's most popular drinks: Mango Lassi. In this, Pandya and Mazumdar will continue what they do best: tell another chapter in the long-storied history of India, unapologetically.
"From day one, we set out to present Indian cuisine in its full, honest form," he said. "The food will be spicy when it needs to be. It will be rustic, aggressive, and aromatic—but it will not be adjusted, and we won't apologize for it."