Gas Station Gourmet: Punjabi Dhaba
An Indian restaurant in Hammond brings an admirable tradition to Southeast Louisiana
Lucie Monk Carter
Punjabi Dhaba in Hammond.
In choosing your next exit off the interstate, ask yourself: Is the truck stop also a cavernous Polish bakery? Do they sell duck decoys that can double as doorstops? No Crockpot plump with boudin by the register? Well, you’ll just run on empty then.
Lucie Monk Carter
Once you were satisfied with Snickers, but now you’ve got sky-high standards for cultural expression at gas stations—with a recent squeeze of helium in Hammond. At I-12 Exit 40, inside Best Stop #34, Punjabi Dhaba gets its name from dhabas, or roadside restaurants, that arose to serve truckers in India with tastes of home. The tradition may be relatively new to Southeast Louisiana, but the chance to unbuckle from a road trip and tuck into buttery, garlicky, rice-studded fare jibes well with all we already hold dear.
Lucie Monk Carter
Until the food arrives, little would seem to set Best Stop #34 apart from the other thirty-three. But once tureens of tikka masala, mountains of vegetable pakoras, and deep-scarlet legs of tandoori chicken make their way to the table, fluorescent lighting is a boon—the better to see you with, my dear—and the more expected convenience store comestibles hanging on the walls around you only serve to underscore that you’re experiencing flavors far superior: Tangy chickpeas for the toddler; shrimp tikka masala for the sister-in-law; and a Dasani and Airheads, looking especially foolish, for the man at the cash register who didn’t have an hour to expend on fresh-cooked fare. But he remembers your delirium, and all those aromas, and he’ll be back with time and stomach room to spare.
