SIOUX CITY | Happy Singh is doing what makes him...well...happy.
"Food was a hobby," says Singh, who co-owns and operates Shahi Palace Indian Grill in Sioux City and Sioux Falls with his brother, Parminder Singh. "You should do what you love."
The Singhs, natives of Punjab, India, came to the U.S. in 2002, and both worked as truck drivers, Happy for two years and Parminder for about seven years. It wasn't until Happy moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in 2009, that Happy turned his passion into a vocation.
"I became a chef in St. Louis while working at House of India," he says.
The Singhs moved north and west to Sioux Falls four years ago. They opened Shahi Palace and, encouraged by its success, expanded to Sioux City in 2014.
Shahi, means "royal," and that's the kind of experience these brothers seek for their diners. Siouxland residents, who may, at first, hesitate to try Indian food, have been returning in strong numbers.
"We hear people just love it," says Happy Singh, 31. "Sioux City loves us. We have gotten great reviews."
This, despite the fact there aren't droves of India natives in Siouxland.
The challenge, according to Happy Singh, involves enticing while educating the public about Indian foods, their spices and flavors.
"People often think that Indian food is really spicy, but that's not the case," Singh says. "When you make it all from scratch, you can pick your level of spice."
Flavor, he notes, comes from a mix of spices, not heat.
Items like garlic naan, chicken tikka, chicken krai, gulab jamun, buttered chicken and masala, come largely from scratch.
The brothers note they learned from their mother, Charnjit Kaur, a vegetarian who excelled in making lentils and vegetable dishes.
Kaur and her husband, Harbhajan Sing, relocated to Sioux City in May 2014. Harbhajan Singh resided in Greece for a quarter-century. He now helps their sons in the restaurants.
