May 16, 2024

It has been several years since Sioux Falls has had an Indian food truck, but that has changed.

Akshay Patel and Haresh Patel, owners of the market India Bazaar on East 10th Street, have opened Taste of India. The new trailer is based in the parking lot of Food-N-Fuel at 100 N. Kiwanis Ave.

Taste of India serves traditional appetizers like samosas and momos, and entrees of tikka masala, butter chicken, other curries and biryani. There are chicken, lamb and vegetarian options.

They’re planning to add several offerings after they’ve been open for a while: vegetarian or chicken Manchurian, chicken or paneer chilli, and Chicken 65, a spicy, deep-fried chicken dish.

To build the flavor, many dishes take a few hours of preparation before the food truck opens for the day, Akshay Patel said. One example of that is the biryani, which is fried rice mixed with vegetables and sauces.

There are several types of naan, traditional drinks like mango lassi and imported Indian soft drinks.

Once a freezer arrives, there will be traditional ice creams like kulfi and one that comes in a traditional clay pot that customers get to keep.

“It’s probably less sweet” than American ice cream, Patel said, because “we don’t use corn sugar.” Flavors will include choices like mango, pistachio and almond.

The business partners are from the same area in India, and “somewhere (in our family) we may be related,” said Patel, who moved to the U.S. in 1995 and lives in the Twin Cities. Haresh Patel came here in 2007 and lives in Sioux Falls. They met through Haresh’s brother and started the Indian grocery store in 2021.

Patel owned a restaurant in the Twin Cities before selling it to focus on the gas stations he owns. He’s in Sioux Falls for a while to do the cooking and train a chef.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Eventually, Taste of India will add a third-party delivery service, Patel said.

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