In the two years since Calcutta Kitchens opened on Broadway in Kingston, owner Aditi Goswami still brings a fresh spirit of experimentation to everything she does.
“I did farmers markets for 15 years prior to opening the store, and I was always hearing from people ‘Do you have that? Can you make this?’” Goswami says. “I curated the store with everything that people have said to me over the years that they would like to see. It really caters a little bit to everybody, from people who really love Indian food to people who've never had Indian food, Indians who like Indian food, and everyone between.”
Since its opening in 2022, customers have come to know and love the rotating selection of freshly made homestyle Indian dishes known as tiffins that Goswami offers every day.
Now open on Sundays from 11am to 5pm through the end of November, customers can enjoy Sunday specials including chicken tikka masala, a rotating goat dish, and idli sambhar, a classic breakfast of fluffy steamed rice and lentil cakes served with lentil stew and coconut chutney. Make it a full dining experience by bringing a few friends. Plop down at one of the tables inside or enjoy the outdoor seating through the end of October, and pair the meal with a glass of wine, beer, or cider, which just debuted on the menu last month, care of the shop’s new liquor license.
Looking for something tasty to take home? Coolers near the front of the store are always filled with fresh and frozen meals packaged to-go, bottles of Goswami’s Calcutta Cooler Indian limeade, and rotating Indian specialties like kheer rice pudding and mango lassi. Jars of Goswami’s popular line of jarred chutneys, simmer sauces, and spice mixes are always available for purchase to punch up any meal at home, in addition to a diverse array of hard-to-find pantry goods mostly sourced from Indian and Middle Eastern cuisines.
Outside the culinary realm, customers will also find a curated selection of pantry and home goods items from local makers, including tea towels and whimsical cat-shaped incense holders by Lora Shelley and soy candles by Create Possibilities. Near the window, a stockpile of Indian cookbooks makes for the perfect gift for home-cooking enthusiasts, as well as striking hand-painted stainless steel tiffins (the word tiffin is used for both the meal and its container) imported from India.
In support of the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency’s “Tiffin Project,” customers who bring their own container will get a $1 discount on their meal. “Growing up, we were so happy to have our own little tiffin containers to go to school with, and to see that in a whole different way where it's being adopted into the lifestyle here for sustainability just makes common sense,” Goswami says.
To serve Calcutta Kitchens’ large base of returning daily lunch customers, this summer the shop also added online ordering for pickup through the website or the store’s Instagram page, where customers can also get a sneak peak of what each daily tiffin looks like. “The local community has really understood and embraced the concept of the store,” Goswami says. “In the beginning, everything was new because our format is so different, but now they know exactly what they want and are always asking for more.”
