Everything Old is New Again at Waltham Indian Eatery

Normally, I try to leave my own story out of my column. After all, “Waltham in the Kitchen” is about Waltham restaurants and food, and besides, I’m not a reviewer.

In fact, I often say that I couldn’t even think about writing restaurant reviews now because I’ve grown so fond of all of the people and places I write about.

But, this week I am making an exception.

New Mother India was the first Indian restaurant at which I ever ate, as a sophomore at . When I visited recently, I just had to thank owner and chef Sham Sahni for helping me start a lifelong love affair with Indian cuisine.

Apparently, I am only one of legions of New Mother India devotees who feel this way. Since the restaurant opened nearly three decades ago (the 30^th anniversary of Sahni’s ownership will be March 6, 2013), customers have been coming in as often as daily for Sahni’s renditions of both classic Indian dishes and American interpretations thereof.

In fact, Sahni speculates that nearly 60 percent of his business comes from “loyal customers.”

New Mother India is the oldest Indian restaurant in the Boston area, under the same continuous ownership. It was previously owned, for not even a year, by other owners whose quarrels led to Sahni’s buying in.

Sahni attributes his longevity to one thing.

“The quality of the food,” he explained. “I always say, ‘I don’t care who is my competition, you can’t beat me on the food quality!’ We still have the best ingredients.”

In spite of his long tenure at New Mother India, Sahni never intended to make the restaurant business his own. He was a computer engineer and businessman first, and he thought that New Mother India would be just a “side business.”

Surprisingly, just three years ago Sahni finally gave up his “day job” of running his travel company, Travel Arrangement.

Considering that he has so many roles at New Mother India, it is impressive that Sahni found the time to do anything else. He waits and buses tables, he operates the host’s station, he cooks and trains his other chefs and he personally troubleshoots any issue that might arise in the dining room or kitchen. But, that’s not all.

“On a Friday or Saturday night, I do the dishes here,” Sahni said. “And the boys still don’t know why I do it. When the dishes come back, you can tell how good the food is. If they’re licked clean, it’s good.”

Yet with all of this, Sahni still has time to chat with his customers and maintains such a close relationship with many of them that he can tell you what they will get before their orders are even placed. He recognizes that customers have their favorites, and even when he has tried to steer them to try new dishes they will always return to their standard orders.

That’s not to say that every day is the same at New Mother India. Sometimes there are special events that mark the milestones of their customers’ lives.

It’s easy to see why customers keep coming back, even if it might lead to some weight gain. Not only are dishes like the most-popular chicken masala and saag paneer made with consistent quality, but also Sahni will still make for patrons their favored meals which he had previously removed from the menu.

If anyone were to question the quality of the fare that is served at New Mother India, Sahni has an irrefutable response.

“My staff all eats here, from the same pot,” he explains. “At most other Indian restaurants, they never eat from the same pot they serve their customers. They make a separate meal for dinner or lunch. But here, we – me included- eat out of the same pot. And we want it to be good for us, so of course we want it to be good for you!”