The Curry Houses of Yore

First Tastes and The Repertoire

India Quality Restaurant at its current location.

For many in the west, our initial exposure to Indian food comes from restaurants and curry houses which populate many cities. College towns invariably are home to collections of restaurants with names such as: Bombay Cafe, India Pavilion, Little India and the like. Indeed, during the early eighties, many of the Boston area restaurants seemed to cater to the large student population. They followed a model that included white tablecloths, formal waiters, Bollywood soundtrack and generally low prices. And, of course the repertoire.

While I was first exposed to Indian cuisine from a bit of home cooking, then my fascination with vindaloo, While I really didn’t catch the bug until I was in college. While attending Boston University, I began exploring some of the local Indian restaurants. It started with an occasional visit, but as time went on, I seemed determined to try them all. Several of them fell in the path of my day-to-day travels, and they were relatively inexpensive at the time -- an additional bonus. So, why not? As I began investigating their menus, a few dishes found favor and my passion began to grow.

Although I did not live on campus, I spent time between classes exploring nearby stores and restaurants. Located in Kenmore Square, India Quality Restaurant was one of the first that I visited. It is there where I had my eyes opened by onion chutney. Their version, in my opinion, remains the gold standard. I also ventured across the Charles River to Central Square in Cambridge where five or six restaurants were located within the confines of a few blocks. Sadly, only one of them remains open.

The former Old Calcutta restaurant, to the left of the Middle East club.

Oh Calcutta, now a convenience store, was the first Central Square restaurant that I tried. It was located on Massachusetts Ave., right next to what eventually became the Middle East Nightclub — the hub of the Boston music scene for many years. Another restaurant, Indian Globe, was right on the other side of the Middle East. At the time, patrons were allowed to brown-bag beer since Oh Calcutta did not have a liquor license. While I don’t remember much about my first visits, I recall trying puri there for the first time which led to an early cooking adventure.

Most of the Central Square restaurants were similar, and served some variety of the repertoire featuring an occasional special from time to time. Because Central Square is situated between MIT and Harvard University, they catered to both the local residents as well as a large population of college students. At the time I guess the masalas and kormas they served still seemed exotic and fresh for many in the area. I had yet to discover much more than those dishes myself so they completely satisfied me!

During the 1980s, I tended to favor two of the Central Square restaurants: Shalimar and Oh Calcutta. I thought Shalimar served the best food, but when I think of Central Square my thoughts consistently return to Oh Calcutta since it was the first one I visited and I have fond memories of several dinners there. I ate there frequently over the years, but by the early 1990s, I was starting to feel that the quality of the food had become less consistent.

The Repertoire

Oh, I should say a few words about the repertoire. I use this term to refer to the standard collection of dishes that seem to appear on nearly every Indian restaurant menu. Tikka masalas, kormas, curries, jalfrezis, dopiazas, biryanis even my beloved vindaloo are the main components of the repertoire. Most of these dishes are available with your choice of lamb, chicken, fish, vegetables and occasionally even beef. Some dishes often appeared under slightly different names or spellings from restaurant to restaurant.

Occasionally a restaurant with a more adventurous chef would offer a few specials so it was possible to find something like rogan josh for a night or two. Many of the dishes in the repertoire tended to originate from northern India. While there was always a selection of vegetarian dishes, these too were typically limited to a few favorites. The huge range of regional vegetarian dishes seemed to be all but ignored. But, truth be told, most of us didn’t know any better at the time.

I tend to think of the repertoire as “India’s Greatest Hits” if you will. Similar to Top 40 radio, they tend to be accessible, ubiquitous and easy to enjoy. Kormas and curries are prepared in great variety all over India, but the regional differences and subtleties that exist in family recipes tend to be lost in the restaurants. I found most restaurant’s versions of these dishes tend to be quite similar to one another - although there were some exceptions. To some extent, I consider many of the repertoire dishes in restaurants, as comfort food; especially dishes such as Chicken Tikka Masala -- which has a story of its own. I should add that the term repertoire is not cast in a pejorative manner, rather it is meant to be more descriptive.

At the beginning, I thoroughly enjoyed what I was getting at most restaurants, and was still rather uninformed, so I was not very particular. I would note minor differences, and make mental lists of which restaurant made a better vindaloo or korma. I wasn’t yet looking beyond the standards, but the nuances between restaurants were starting to make me curious and I was intent on figuring out the details. As I became more familiar with the restaurants in the area, I discovered a few that generally offered better recitals and they tended to become my preferred choices when choosing a restaurant.

After awhile, however, I began to crave more variety and would look for specials or more adventurous menus to choose from. Until 1990 or so, most local restaurants stuck to the repertoire with only an occasional special. Restaurants were differentiated by how they recited the repertoire. Or more accurately, how much I appreciated their recital; something I found varied over time.

Over time I found certain restaurants that I liked very much, which I would visit repeatedly. Others I would try one time, and for whatever reason, never return. Perhaps the food or service was subpar, or the location made them less convenient for me. Sometimes there was no good reason. But like most people, when a restaurant fired my imagination with a stellar dinner, I tended to return. And when the food was consistent, convenient and economical, I would become a regular.