((PKG)) INDIAN FOOD
((Banner: Next Generation Indian))
((Reporter/Producer: Eve Unshin Lee))
((Camera/Producer: Sanghoon Lee))
((VOA Korean))
((Adapted by: Phillip Alexiou))
((Map: Washington, D.C.))
((NATS))
((Rahul Vinod, Co-founder, RASA))
Rasa is a venture that was started by myself and my friend Sahil, and we both have known each other since birth.
So, our story actually began with our fathers who both attended catering college in India, and studied there, and worked for some of the top hotels there, before they actually both separately came to the U.S. in the D.C. area 1985.
((NATS))
((Sahil Rahman, Co-founder, RASA))
When we thought about what we wanted to create, we wanted to bring that authenticity and excitement of Indian culture and Indian cuisine but do it in the way that feels welcoming to people as well.
((NATS))
((Rahul Vinod, Co-founder, RASA))
In the North, they have the traditional Chicken Tikka Masala, Saag Paneer, Aloo Chole - all those, kind of, more of those popular curries that you’ve tried with the breads. There’s a lot of abundance of rice and coconut and wheat and different things like that in the South, and they are close to the water as well. So, that’s where the seafood component comes in.
((NATS))
((Sahil Rahman, Co-founder, RASA))
What we’ve done here is, Tandoor is difficult to operate. It’s a little bit dangerous as well. So, we’ve created a custom-built 1,000 degree oven, which we actually slap the naan into. Our shrimp is a traditional South Indian style shrimp, and we marinate it with turmeric, ginger, shallots and green chilies.
((NATS))
((Rahul Vinod, Co-founder, RASA))
There’s common misconception that no one in India eats beef, but in the south, they do eat beef because there’s a huge Christian population. There are Indian Christians. So, we’ve actually taken that and put that as one of the proteins on our menu here at Rasa.
((NATS))
((Sahil Rahman, Co-founder, RASA))
In the early 90s, Indian food, Korean food, a lot of these different foods were put into this ethnic category, and a lot of people were scared to try them. And it’s been incredible to see today how far we’ve come, where people are really excited to try something new.
((NATS))
((Rahul Vinod, Co-founder, RASA))
For us, we really feel that food is the gateway to culture and we hope that by creating really good food in an inviting atmosphere, we can bring people together. People from different backgrounds, different cultures, different races, they can all agree to a good meal.
((NATS))
