KAPA‘A — An Indian restaurant has finally opened on Kaua‘i.
On April 29 in Kapa‘a town Chutney began serving customers, taking over the former Pizzetta location and revamping the décor with warm yellow walls, sheer maroon drapes and a shiny bowl filled with fennel at a table near the threshold.
Owner Bindeshor Kakshapati had planned on opening in May, but Kaua’i residents wouldn’t wait.
“People were standing around asking when we will open,” Kakshapati said, so he decided to open earlier then planned, and said it was “slammed” from the first night.
No big deal for Kakshapati, who has had 14 successful Indian restaurants in Colorado in hot spots like Aspen, Vail, and Durango. He also currently owns Monsoon India Restaurant in Kihei, Maui. His career has blossomed from his customers.
“My regular customers in Colorado had second homes in Maui,” Kakshapati said, adding that they urged him to open another Indian restaurant featuring his traditional cuisine from Nepal and India. Then, his regular customers on Maui who were privy to the fact Kaua‘i was lacking in an Indian restaurant urged him to open one over here.
The food at Chutney is traditional Indian fare, with influences from northern and southern India, and traditional fare from Nepal, high in the Himalayas, where Kakshapati is from. The only deviation from the food made in Nepal is the heat — it is toned down in Hawai‘i due to the tropical climate — whereas in cold climates like Nepal and Colorado the spices are kicked up a notch for a reason.
“Nepalese food, in the winter time we use hotter food, to make your body very warm,” Kakshapati said. “Real Nepalese food in wintertime is not suitable for Hawai‘i.”
Kakshapati, who is from Kathmandu, Nepal, has been in the restaurant business in the United States since 1990. He was originally pulled towards Colorado for the mountains and similar climate to his homeland, but has since acclimated nicely to Hawai‘i in the past five years, and may have given up the cold for good.
One of the most fascinating concepts Kakshapati uses at Chutney and his other ventures is the use of a tandoor: a clay oven the shape of a large oval vase with white-hot mesquite coals at its bottom that cooks the majority of the cuisine, including the chewy, bubbly flat bread known as naan, and all the meats, including lamb, chicken, jumbo shrimp which are cooked on long skewers in the oven.
It’s a fascinating process to watch the naan made: a lump of dough is slapped against the furiously hot inside of the tandoor, and as it begins to bubble with pillows of air pockets, Kakshapati pokes a skewer to pop the puffs, and then pulls it out with the skewer and plates it, ready to serve. The whole process is about 30 seconds, a quick process that requires a savvy technique.
There are nine different naan varieties, also known as tandoori breads, on the Chutney menu, including garlic, onion, keena, (stuffed with ground beef and onions) and aloo paratha (stuffed with potatoes and green peas), so the process of making it can get more complex.
Also on the menu showcasing the clay oven is the combo tandoor platter as an appetizer: an assortment of skewered chicken, lamb and jumbo prawns prepared in a variety of spices and sauces and then cooked in the tandoor, served among sliced onions and green peppers and lemon wedges.
There are also a variety of curries to mix with your choice of meat, fish or vegetable, as well as a variety of vegetarian dishes.
With the exception of a Caesar salad — which seems oddly out of place — and soft drinks, the menu is totally Indian food.
Chutney is a long-awaited venue to finally add to Kaua‘i’s options for a cuisine that has staked a well-deserved claim in most of the world.
Currently Chutney does not have its liquor license, so patrons BYOB.
Kakshapati recommends wine with his food, red for lamb and meat, white for noshing on appetizers.
For a non-alcoholic choice of drink, try the lassi, a mix of fruit (mango is the best) with yogurt, a refreshing, tangy type of smoothie.
Chutney is open for lunch Monday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and dinner nightly from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
For more information call 821-2040 or e-mail chutneyatkauai@gmail.com.
