UWS FOOD ADVENTURES: DIG INTO THE FRAGRANT VEGETABLES AT DOABA DELI

New Yorkers tend to head to Flushing, Jackson Heights and the Lower East Side to discover food from the far reaches of the world. But don’t write off our little section of Manhattan, for there are treasures to be found. Welcome to UWS Food Adventures!

By Josh Goldblatt

To find great food from exotic locales in New York, it sometimes helps to”follow that cab.”  Such would be the case on Columbus Avenue between 106th and 107th Streets, where a deluge of taxis perch on either side of the avenue.  On the west side lies Gujrat Deli, and almost directly across on the east, Doaba Deli.  Gujarat shall be covered in a later dispatch, while we will currently focus our attention on Doaba.

“Doaba” refers to a region in the northern Indian state of Punjab, where the owner comes from.  But what’s in a name is not as important as the thing itself, and in this case, what we’re speaking of is an Upper West Side gem not to be missed by those who love Indian food and interesting cultural experiences.

As you enter you will find yourself in the seating area, likely filled with a few of the aforementioned cab drivers or the occasional South Asian Columbia student.  A Bollywood movie could very possibly be playing on the television which sits on top of the cooler (more on this cooler shortly). Hang right up a short set of stairs, where there is a steam table a small prep area.

At this point, you may feel a bit unsure of yourself.  If you want to order bread — which you do — you should get at least a couple (a wheat-based roti or paratha, and an aloo (potato) kulcha will do, although there is no harm in ordering the sampler, or, if you must, a garlic naan).  If you know what’s best, you should also order a somosa chaat, a bowl filled with somosas, diced onion, yogurt, cilantro chutney and tamarind sauce. You will be asked to go back to the seating area while your breads and chaat are made.  Before taking a seat, slide open the infamous cooler and take out a Limca or Thums Up, Indian lemon-lime and cola drinks which are different (and tasty) enough to merit a try.

When your time has come, you will go to pick up your appetizer and bread, and you will have your choice of 4 vegetables. On repeated visits, the selections were fresh and varied throughout the day.  Not one disappointed (although the chana (chickpeas) were slightly liquidy).  Do not worry about using the proper Indian names: pointing and taking a best guess as to what the vegetable is works fine, although you might confuse potato for what is actually turnip or butternut squash, and you might find that the person manning the steam table will actually not know what to call something.  It doesn’t matter, because as long as you like vegetables that are perfectly stewed and fragrantly prepared, you won’t have a problem.

Highlights include dal, a lentil stew which was smoky, garlicy and intoxicating. Eggplant was earthy with a slightly sour note. Many of the dishes benefit from mustard oil and fresh herbs. And don’t forget the breads, all unique, all made fresh, all more than enough to make you lower your head in shame when you think of the Wonderbread of your youth.

Doaba opened a couple of years ago, and, according to the owner, times were tough at first.  But little by little, he says, business grew. With food this fresh and honest, it isn’t hard to see why.  The owner learned to cook back in India, he says, by necessity: he was single at the time.  Necessity is indeed the mother of all great things.

Doaba is as cheap as you could hope for.  Even with a chai and an Indian sweet for dessert, it would be difficult to spend more than $10. You leave feeling you’ve been in Bombay only to be sucked into a wormhole and spit out on the Upper West Side.

Doaba Deli
945 Columbus Ave
(212) 222-2636

Josh Goldblatt, an Upper West Sider, also writes at foodandpants.com.