How One Tribeca Restaurant Is Showcasing India’s Vast Regional Cuisines

To call Indian cuisine “diverse” is an understatement. Travel across the country, and you’ll quickly discover that each state—sometimes each region within states—speaks its own culinary language, shaped by geography, climate, and centuries of tradition. While boarding a plane is one way to explore those distinctions, New Yorkers can take an easier journey. On the island of Manhattan, an ambitious lunch service is quietly mapping India’s vast foodways one region at a time.

Tucked into Tribeca, Tamarind has been a cornerstone of New York City’s South Asian fine-dining scene since 2001. Revered for its polished take on Indian cuisine, the restaurant has a lesser-known offering: a monthly regional lunch series that spotlights a different part of India. Launched in 2010, the program took on a sharper focus in 2025, shifting its attention to regions rarely represented on American menus.

For owner Avtar Walia, the evolution was both personal and practical. “India is a country with countless regional specialties, each with its own history, culture, and unique use of spices,” he told Travel + Leisure. “I wanted our guests to experience that variety and feel as though they were traveling across India one meal at a time.” The rotating lunch menu, he said, allows the team to tell those stories through food—at an accessible price point.

That spirit of exploration was on full display during last year’s Odisha-themed menu, which introduced diners to dishes from India’s eastern coast, including chingri malai (shrimp simmered in coconut sauce), aloo chop (a crisp potato patty), tawa macha (grilled fish), and chenna tarkari, a paneer-based curry. “I wouldn’t say it was 100 percent on the nail for Odiya food, as no single menu can capture the full depth of Odia cuisine,” one diner told T+L, “but it was a meaningful and thoughtful representation—and that’s huge. Odia food is still underrepresented in restaurants, so seeing a seasonal menu dedicated to showcasing its flavors and traditions is a significant and welcome step.”

Another month spotlighted Punjab, Walia’s home state and personal favorite. “Eating my mother’s homemade Punjabi food shaped my love for hearty, flavorful dishes and continues to inspire what we serve today,” he said. The menu leaned into that comfort and richness with dishes like Amritsari machali (marinated fish), Punjabi gosht (lamb braised with onion, tomato, and yogurt), and sarson ka saag (mustard-greens prepared with ginger, garlic, and garam masala).

Perhaps the most ambitious concept followed National Highway 44—India’s longest roadway, stretching north to south through 11 states. The menu reads like a culinary road trip: dahi bhalla, lentil dumplings crowned with spiced yogurt and popular across the North; Rajasthan’s fiery laal maas, featuring slow-cooked lamb; Maharashtra’s pandhra murgh, a creamy chicken dish enriched with sour cream, cashews, and poppy seeds; and coastal fare such as Malabar fish tikka, salmon marinated with ginger, garlic, and tamarind.

“Food is one of the most powerful ways to share culture,” Walia said. “By highlighting regional cuisines, I hope to deepen people’s appreciation of India as a country of many stories, not just a single flavor profile. For me, every menu is both a meal and a cultural exchange.”

For 2026, January’s menu was Punjab-centric and it will shift to a menu highlighting the Malabar Coast—what Walia calls the “the spice terrain of India.” Diners can enjoy a prix fixe lunch with one appetizer, two entrees, rice, naan, a vegetable of the day and one dessert for $38.