With New Zealand households spending almost a quarter of their food bill on takeaways or eating out, exotic takeout options seem to be growing in popularity.



There was once a time when people thought New Plymouth wasn't big enough for two Indian restaurants.



Looking back on 15 years of business, Sunny Grewal laughed at the warning he and his brother Jassi were given when they decided to establish the first India Today restaurant in 2001.



"When we were looking around for a place our neighbours said, 'Nah, it's not going to work, you can't have two Indian places here'," he said. "Now we have 15 or 16."

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CHARLOTTE CURD/Fairfax NZ India Today Head Chef, Asif Reza making butter chicken.







A quick flick through the phone book shows that, throughout the Taranaki region, there are now at least 20 Indian eateries. Based on Taranaki's estimated population of 115,800, that's one Indian eatery per 5790 people.



The humble fish and chip shop remains the biggest player in the takeaway market, with one fish and chips/chinese takeaway per 2895 people, however increasingly the tradition of "fish and chip Friday" is competing with a new family favourite.



According to Statistics NZ, out of every $100 a household spends on food, $23 is spent on takeaways or eating out, which is up from $21 in 2011.

CHARLOTTE CURD/Fairfax NZ Sunny Grewal, who was told there was no room for another Indian restaurant in New Plymouth, has survived 15 years and 15 more restaurants popping up in town.

This comes on the back of the 2013 report on the state of the hospitality industry released by the Restaurant Association and Auckland University of Technology which indicated takeaway sales had risen 25 per cent in four years, with New Zealand racking up a $1.5 billion bill on takeaways in the 12 months to the report being released.

"A lot of my customers, they may have fish and chips once a week, but also Indian once a week as well," Grewal said.

However, Kiwis' appetite for Indian food was not always so large, he said.

"People had a certain expectation from our curry. Butter chicken was the curry they wanted, and sausage curry, people were still asking for sausage curry."

If customers' expectations weren't met Grewal often found himself being told they weren't serving "real Indian", despite the fact many customers had their taste buds conditioned by British-influenced dishes.

"We adapted our way through. Our food was totally foreign, pretty much the Indian you would get in India."

Some of the more traditional Indian curries were taken off the menu, but have since returned as Kiwis' palates developed, he said.

"More and more people have travelled and tried different foods and then they come back and want to find those foods here."

While Indian food was often known for its spice, people were increasingly eating Mexican and Thai food, which Grewal said had much more heat than a traditional curry.

The current influx of Indian dining options is not necessarily a good thing, Grewal cautioned.

"With more and more coming, obviously as a businessman, I don't think it's sustainable to have so many here."

Grewal says the large number of Indian restaurants flooding into regions throughout New Zealand is partly to do with the immigrant population who, by establishing a restaurant, were essentially buying themselves a job in the country.

In the year to March 2015, 12,100 Indian nationals migrated to New Zealand, and they have been in the top five most populous immigrant groups since 2001. At the time of the 2013 Census, there were 67,176 Indian-born New Zealand residents.

India Today also has a restaurant in Tauranga, which is seeing a similar glut in not only Indian, but Thai and Cambodian restaurants, Grewal said.

"This industry is being pushed."

The owners of Okato Takeaway, Karen and Graham Chard, said the glut of takeaway vendors has not reached them down the coast, but it was a noticeable trend in New Plymouth.

"It's all food places really," Karen said, "There's so many restaurants in New Plymouth."

The closest Indian eatery to them was in Oakura, but if one came out their way, "so be it", Karen said.

The pair have owned Okato Takeaways for six years and said success did not come down to whether you had more or less competition, but rather the quality of the product you serve.

"Takeaways can be good quality, cheap or quick - you can only have two out of the three," Graham said.

Karen said while more Indian food places were popping up, she believed they were by-in-large catering to the growing Indian migrant community, rather than setting up in direct competition to other eateries.

"They come over here and can set up a business which means a job for them and their family.

"And they're doing what they know to meet their tastes."

Almost nine years ago, Indian Zaika opened in the South Taranaki town of Hawera.

Owner/manager Menisha Walia, who took over the business from her parents, said in the last two years, another two takeaway Indian restaurants have sprung up in the town, proving the cuisine is growing in popularity.

"It's very mainstream now. You go back like 15, 16 even 20 years and Chinese food wasn't even that popular.

"Indian food's kind of the new Chinese food, really.

"Just because it's everywhere. Everyone knows what Butter chicken is."

With more and more Indian restaurants popping up, the key now was to offer something out of the ordinary, Walia said.

"When there's so many you do have to try and be different. I'm young so our style's different, we're quite modern.

"One of our things is we've got a graffiti wall and most places would never do that because they think, 'that's not Indian'."

However, despite having to 'Westernise' the cuisine to suit the New Zealand market, most chefs still have a lot of traditional dishes that are popular on the menu, she said.

"Obviously you still have your really Westernised dishes, your Butter chickens and your kormas - mum and dad wouldn't have made that at home - but we do make a lot of dishes in the true Indian style. You'd be surprised at how many people order it.

Walia agreed that Indian takeaways were in many ways becoming a new Friday takeaway staple, despite it being a pricier alternative to the traditional fish and chips meal.

"I definitely think so. A lot people do the whole takeaway on a Friday night and it's just what you like and what the family likes.

"The price of Indian is always going to be more expensive but I think it comes down the value of what you get, you actually get full with Indian, it's a full meal, instead of paying $10 for some fish and chips and not everyone being full at the end."

Grewal agreed. "And people often share. So we get a lot of orders in for one butter chicken and two naan. It works out to be about $12 per person, which is not that much more.

"Can Indian take the place of fish and chips? I'm not sure, but it definitely is another, very popular option," he said.

Kiwis like it hot?

Curries coming Mild, Medium, Kiwi Hot and Indian Hot was made up by the customers, India Today's Sunny Grewal says.

"In India, you have as it comes. Then if you like it hot, there's fresh green chillies or a hot sauce served on the side so you're in control."

Grewal said it was naive for customers to judge a curry based on heat alone. And having to create different levels of spice drove the chefs nuts, he says.

Indian Zaika owner/manager Menisha Walia says for a lot of customers, the heat of the curry comes down to ego.

"Most people, if they're going to eat hot they're used to eating hot. It comes down to a bit of bravado and ego, especially when people come in a group, you'll have one person that orders hot and then someone else will be like, 'Well I've got to have hot now too'."