The Best Indian Food In New York Is Actually in New Jersey

Iselin, New Jersey is a town with a population of around 20,000 in the rolling hills of Woodbridge Township, 15 miles northeast of New Brunswick, and 30 miles southwest of Manhattan. Lined mainly with two-story shopfronts along a twisting main drag, the town can feel like you’ve returned to small-town Jersey in the 1960s. Most of the businesses are Indian — including restaurants, supermarkets, travel agencies, beauty parlors, jewelers, and paan sellers; Iselin is the largest of the metropolitan region’s South Asian shopping districts, which includes Jersey City’s Newark Avenue, Jackson Heights’ 74^th Street, and Murray Hill’s Lexington Avenue.

On the western end of the district — technically in Edison, N.J. — a pair of strip malls run perpendicular to Oak Tree Avenue, facing each other across a no-man’s-land of weeds and dumpsters. Westernmost is Oak Village (1734 Oak Tree Ave.), presenting a solid line of restaurants, including Chopstick, an Indo-Chinese cafe that also specializes in Thai and Malaysian fare adapted for Indian tastes. More restaurants are found in the facing strip mall, Sugartree Plaza (1700 Oak Tree Ave.), which is anchored by supermarket Apna Bazar Cash & Carry.

Recently, I made two visits with carloads of friends. Running from east to west, here are some notes on our visits. Places particularly recommend are designated with a [*].

Kwality Sweets* — Inside this conventional-looking ice cream parlor lurk some rather unconventional flavors. We tried several, of which the sweet, chunky, and fruity meetha paan was our favorite. It emulated a betel-leaf-wrapped quasi-medicinal preparation that is chewed for its stimulant effect. We also tried chickoo ice cream, made from the fruit also known as sapodilla. 1734 Oak Tree Ave., 848- 906-1941

Pakvaan* — The airy vegetarian dining room with a steam table on the far wall offers Punjabi and Gujarati all-in meals, as well as snacks such as batata vada (round potato fritters), chole bhature (stewed chickpeas served with a poori), and vagharelo rotla (a millet flatbread). As we entered, a man was squirting kulfi (Indian milk-based popsicles) into molds as he leaned over a deep freeze. We stepped up and ordered a dabeli (also known as pav bhaji), a Portuguese-inspired roll smeared with a dark potato curry dotted with pomegranate seeds. It originated as a meal for Bombay textile workers in the 1850s. Jain food is also available, catering to a religious group common in Gujarat that eschews onions and garlic. We ordered the Gujarati thali, a delightful meal of many small dishes presented on a metal tray, including spectacular small rotis, a stew of black-eyed peas, a globe-shaped potato fritter, and carrot halwa — a bright orange sweet made with shredded carrots. 1700 Oak Tree Ave., 732-767-1263

Desi Galaxy Express — Like many cafes in Iselin, this one sports several alternate identities, including Bombay Spice, Punjabi Express, and Anmol Sweets, each located in a different corner of the interior. Punjabi Express offers some of the best and biggest samosas you’ve ever seen, standing upright like culinary monuments, filled with a potatoey, multi-vegetable mixture. Other fritters and chaats (crunchy, bowl-based snacks) are also available. 1700 Oaktree Rd., 848- 229-2250

Grid View

• Meetha paan ice cream from Kwality
• Dabeli from Pakvaan
• Samosas from Desi Galaxy

Healthy Platters by Bombay Spice —The bright green walls are stenciled with uplifting aphorisms like, “Do Your Best Never Give Up” and “Believe There is Good in the World.” The purpose of this unusual place seems to be the translation of Mexican and Middle Eastern food into an Indian dining idiom. We stepped up boldly and ordered a burrito (nachos and falafel also available). It arrived filled with plain shredded chicken, black beans, corn, and cheese, and came with two chutneys and raita. The Indian burrito was rudimentary, but it made us wonder: Is this the beachhead of a new Indo-Mexican cuisine, akin to Indo-Chinese? 1700 Oak Tree Ave., 732- 318-6575

Bollywood Flavours — One of two new food courts found on the Iselin outskirts, Bollywood Flavours debuted in a strip mall anchored by a Patel Brothers supermarket. Currently, six stalls have tenants. Among them is Gujarati Food, where we scored a plate of khaman, spongy yellow millet cakes something like cornbread; and Tandoori Hut, where we purchased a plate of tandoori chicken and a goat curry, both in a Punjabi style. The goat, at least, was damn good. 1681 Oak Tree Ave., 732- 243-9213

Moghul Express* — The food turned out to be mind-bogglingly great at this hilltop fast-casual restaurant, presenting Punjabi food, as well as chaats, dosas, a full array of Indo-Chinese fare, elaborate Bengali desserts, and fruit drinks. We sampled a colorful lamb dum biryani from Hyderabad; a pungent goat curry with a tomato-laced sauce from northern India; and a house-special Bombay chaat that came in an edible bowl, engulfed in yogurt and chutneys and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and salted peanuts. Yum! 1670 Oak Tree Ave., 732-549-6222

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• Khaman from Bollywood Flavours
• Tandoori chicken from Bollywood Flavours
• Lamb curry from Moghul Express

India Grocers — This modern supermarket chain, which also boasts branches in Michigan and Ohio, is your best chance to peek at the bulk spices, nuts, flours, instant mixes, and other staples that Indian shoppers come to Iselin for. The selection of vegetables is fascinating, and if you’re not familiar with them, pull out your smartphone: tindora (ivy gourd, like tiny cucumbers), karela (bitter melon), and toover (pigeon peas). Amazingly, not too long ago this place was a Pathmark. 1665 Oak Tree Ave., 732-243 9999

Chowpatty* — Iselin as an Indian shopping destination arose in the 1980s with the arrival of immigrants from Gujarat. Chowpatty was founded in 1990 as a catering hall in the center of town, named after a popular beach in Mumbai — murals of the beach line the walls —, offering familiar Gujarati fare. Included are many of the vegetables seen at India Grocers, including caju karela, a stir-fry of cashews and bitter melon, which came with shrikand, sweetened and thickened yogurt laced with saffron. We also enjoyed a favorite Indian snack of pani poori, featuring tiny pooris that are knocked open and filled with a rice and lentil mixture, and a Gujarati Village Thali, which came with a choice of vegetable curries on a china thali plate. Highlights included a buttermilk soup called khadi and cornmeal-based flatbreads. Everything at Chowpatty is strictly vegetarian. 1349 Oak Tree Ave.,732-283-9020

Edison Dosa Express* — We gobbled a green pepper masala dosa and found culinary perfection at this utilitarian restaurant on the rundown eastern end of the Iselin shopping district. A sign at the end of the packed double dining room proclaimed, “For Onsite Dosa Party Please Inquire.” The dosa enfolded a savory potato filling shot with bright green jalapenos, and only the coconut chutney could stanch the burn. Next we tucked into uppma, a cream-of-wheat porridge shot with fresh curry leaves, black mustard seeds, and cashews, which proved a perfect mellow foil to the spicy dosa. This place rocks! 1170 Green St., 732-404-0047

Sri Dosa Place — Off the beaten track on the Lincoln Highway, this modest spot proved, to us at least, that the best South Indian vegetarian fare is found on Iselin’s east end. The menu ran to 103 dosa choices, which astonished us, including oddball items like a Bangalore onion-chili masala dosa, chocolate dosa, and mango-ginger dosa. We picked the gongura plain dosa, featuring a paste of a leafy vegetable favored by the Telugu, a group from Andhra Pradesh lately arrived in Iselin. 271 NJ-27, 732- 218-5138

Grid View

• Chaats from Chowpatty
• Green pepper dosa from Dosa Express
• Gongura dosa from Sri Dosa Place