Mukhi and Roop Singh have no idea why they moved to Tucson 15 years ago. They say it was just meant to be.
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Mukhi said. “Being an Indian, I think it’s all part of destiny.”
The Singhs own The Twisted Tandoor food truck, which specializes in Indian-style cuisine. They opened two years ago and park their truck around Tucson five days a week.
But the road to destiny wasn’t always smooth. Mukhi worked for a couple of companies in Tucson before the economy started going downhill. He launched the food truck because it allowed him the opportunity to explore his hobby: cooking.
Mukhi said the recipes are the couple’s attempt to replicate past experiences in India. They were both born to farmers’ families in Northern India and attended college in the capital, New Delhi.
“It’s basically what we grew up eating,” Mukhi said. “Basically what I ate in my mom’s kitchen and what my wife ate in her mom’s kitchen and on the street in India.”
Popular items on the food truck include the chicken tikka masala, tandoori chicken and the samosas, Mukhi said. Costs usually run between $5 and $16 a person.
Mukhi said the most difficult part of the business has been getting spices that match the flavor profile they’re looking for. They get most of their spices from an importer in Los Angeles.
“We’re not going to compromise,” he said. “We take pride in the spices and the ingredients that we use. We don’t dumb down anything we do on the truck.”
Mukhi said that the couple’s ultimate goal is to open up a restaurant. The food truck has given them an idea of the back-end of the business.
“It would allow us an opportunity to bring a lot of stuff that we really cannot do on the truck,” he said.
The Twisted Tandoor releases its location on its Facebook page, Facebook.com/TheTwistedTandoor, and on its Twitter account, @TwistedTandoor.
Mukhi Singh took some time to answer a few questions for us:
What is the most-used ingredient on your menu?
“I can’t name one spice. Our regular spices — we use like 10 different spices and configurations to bring flavor from a certain part of India.”
Besides Indian, what is your favorite type of cuisine?
“I like all kinds of food, so if I had to choose I’d think the top three would be Indian, Malaysian and Thai.”
What is one food you can’t bring yourself to eat?
“Fertilized duck eggs. It’s a texture thing. I don’t think I’ll be able to handle that. Actually, I know I won’t be able to handle that.”
What is the hardest ingredient to find in Tucson?
“Good-quality, dried red chili peppers. Getting the correct dried red chilies that we use a lot in our curries was the hardest thing for me.”
