Punjabi Grocery Deli~ 114 E. 1st St. New York, NY  10009 ~ (212) 533-9048

I’ve eaten my way through a big part of New York’s cheap and fine dining establishments, and if I was gonna have my last meal catered by anyone in the Manzana Grande, I’d pick Punjabi. It is my favorite spot in New York and I love it, mostly as Mr. Cooke put it, “for sentimental reasons.”

I’ve been coming to this small North Indian deli/takeout restaurant/cassette tape dispensary/taxi driver hangout for at least eleven years (the dreads introduced me) and stood by its side through staff changes, price adjustments, and even 9/11, wherein NYC TACO stood firmly against the challenges of U.S. ignorance colliding with the normal haberdashery of our brave Sikh brothers, of which this particular Punjabi crew belongs.

This homie has been here for years now. He is awesome, though one time, back in the days when he was sorta new, he sneaked a minute pepper in my food that nearly killed me. He’s behind a slew of Indian snack foods and in front of the numerous, multi-colored covers of mix-tapes sung in Punjabi, Marathi, Urdu and Hindi and whatnot. Below him are a picture-shy assortment of curries that change daily and are served with basmati and nuked for your convenience. There are usually about 6 curries and breads and samosas available. The curries taste homemade and are very good. The chai is also really sweet and a nice treat on them freezing Gotham days.

The reason Punjabi really keeps bringing me back again and again is this whopping pile of chick-peas poured over two crushed samosas. It’s the Punjabi specialty. The crags and valleys of the crispy samosas get filled with the buttery run-off from the chana, which also moistens the fluffy potato insides. I always add a small handful of onions and tamarind sauce to compliment and tittilate. It’s crispy, it’s crunchy, it’s sweet, it’s salty. MMmmmnnnn….

The large portion comes huge and cheap, two could probably be happy with it. The price has gone up a little, like all else, to about $6, and recently the recipe seems to differ on some days, but this most-delicious dish sustained me through hard, freezing cold times many a day and night on the Lower East Side and is usually my first stop whenever I’m in a 10-block radius, though I often go out of my way as well.