Indian food wasn’t popular in New York until the mid-90’s when banks starting importing droves of Indian programmers to help them avert the Y2K crisis. Indian restaurants popped up overnight catering to the immigrants. Meanwhile, the tech scene was heating up in the city and a new culture of workaholics needed a late night craving satisfied via delivery.
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Indian-American entrepreneur Kay Kalawar explained this to me while lamenting that she entered the market too soon with her Indian food distribution company in the late 80’s.
Either way, thank god for chicken tikka masala.
