Divine India

Words by David Haxton

With various tilts of the metal frying pan, Dharmesh Yadav expertly manoeuvres another curry around the surface. The aromas smell divine.

He’s done it countless times but every meal demands precision and concentration to get it just right.

It’s that attention to quality and consistency that has made Divine India one of the enduring takeaway places on the coast.

Located in the Kāpiti Lights business precinct, in the heart of Paraparaumu, this popular Indian takeaway spot has been operated by Dharmesh and his wife Rina for 15 years.

The couple, who have been married for 30 years, came to New Zealand from Mumbai, India, in 2004 to manage two Indian restaurants — one in Rotorua and one in Taupo — for Dharmesh’s sister and her husband who were moving to Australia.

After both businesses were sold Dharmesh and Rina ventured south where he worked in a fish and chip shop in Lower Hutt.

He then became manager of a new Indian restaurant in Paraparaumu, and then, less than a year later, and with residency secured, there was an opportunity to buy the nearby Curry To Go.

They bought the business in February 2008 and quickly changed the name to Divine India, changed the recipes, changed the decor and changed the layout.

With the foundations in place, they started to build their Indian takeaway empire, and customers responded favourably.

“We have a very good relationship with our customers, the food is always consistent, and we don’t compromise with our quality,” Dharmesh said.

“We enjoy making customers happy and giving them value for their money.

“The success of our business is customers coming back again and again.”

The menu features 29 non-vegetarian dishes and 22 vegetarian dishes.

“Some of them are our specialities including punjabi, makhanwala and kashmiri.

“People who have eaten our punjabi curry have always come back and ordered it again.”

He also praises Rina’s tandoori bread skills, and recommends her masala paneer naan.

“She does it very nicely.”

Not surprisingly the most popular dish ordered is butter chicken.

“If anyone orders five curries, or three curries, or two curries, the first one they will order is butter chicken.”

Daily freshness is important and they buy their meat directly from M and M Master Butchers, in Kāpiti Rd, Paraparaumu.

“Frankie Manclark, who is the owner, was the guy who supplied us meat when we opened the shop.

“He used to work for Preston’s [butchery] before opening M and M Master Butchers.”

The only item Divine India freezes is prawns. Divine India is a bit old school as it doesn’t really have an online presence apart from a Facebook page and has recently joined up with Delivereasy.

“It’s all word of mouth,” Dharmesh said. Any day when Divine India is open can be busy, particularly Friday and Saturday nights when the wait time can be an hour and a half.

It’s an impressive operation when you consider it’s only the two of them running the business. While there’s a range of factors behind Divine India’s success, Dharmesh points out the most important.

“The success of my business is my wife Rina and my son Harsh.”