By Tom Vellner1
I left New York City for the Hudson Valley in 2022. To quote JoJo Siwa, “No one has made, in my generation, this extreme of a switch, and I am the first of the generation. It is very scary. But someone's gotta do it.” Please, don’t clap.
When my husband and I first started renting a house two hours north of the city, where I didn’t know a soul, I expected I would miss my friends. Especially in the dead of winter. And, don’t get me wrong, I did. But what I missed even more deeply? Indian food. Specifically, Indian food delivered from my go-to spot in Harlem, Delhi Masala. Whenever I needed comfort on a bad day or a particularly frigid one, I would order chicken tikka masala with garlic naan and vegetable samosas on Seamless like a Basic Bitch, and in no time, I would feel warm and fuzzy again.
After we moved upstate, each week I would barely make it to Wednesday before the yearning would set in. Adjusting to a new place, I craved routine. I craved familiarity. I craved that goddamn chicken tikka masala. After two (2) weeknights of making salmon or salad (barf!), I would practically be begging the universe to send a container of it to my door. Like checking your fridge even when you know nothing new could have possibly appeared, I would open GrubHub, hoping that Delhi Masala would have inexplicably opened another location in Greene County. Or that anything besides Dunkin or Burger King would have appeared in my delivery radius. But no. It was nothing but donuts and whoppers.
Also, was the food at Delhi Masala that good? Honestly, I don’t even remember now! Maybe? That’s not the point. I missed reaching the end of a long day and being able to press a button for instant comfort at my door — a cozy embrace to ease the sting of winter or work. I longed for the days of ordering any cuisine imaginable at any moment.
I knew that delivery was a thing of the past, but I still needed solid takeout options aside from the standard pizza and sub spots scattered across my new home county. I needed a replacement for Delhi Masala, if such a place even existed.
Those first couple months upstate, I was but a student of the area. A newbie. A freshman. An idiot. I didn’t yet search far and wide enough. So, when I finally discovered that, across the river, about 30 minutes from my house, there was a well-rated Indian restaurant, I nearly fell to my knees in prayer.
There it was. Hudson Curry House.
After thanking a god I no longer believe in, I placed my Basic Bitch order and hoped — pleaded — that it would fill my takeout hole. (Get your mind out of the gutter!)
When I arrived at the restaurant on a cold winter’s evening, I discovered what only made Hudson Curry House seem even more of a mirage. They had a drive-thru window to pick up your order. Eat your heart out, Dunkin! Fuck you, Burger King! An Indian restaurant with the convenience of a fast food joint? Maybe I do believe in god? I didn’t have to exit my vehicle to collect my dinner, and the man who handed it to me did it with a smile that told me, yes, I had come home.
Their food — at the risk of getting too gastronomical — slapped. Their chicken tikka masala was everything I hoped for in the classic dish: luscious, creamy, and a touch spicy. Their naan was generously slathered with garlic. And their vegetable samosas were crisp and delicately spiced.
The man at the drive-thru window now smiles at me knowingly, because I order from them a few times a month. Hudson Curry House has, in fact, filled my takeout hole. It’s the comfort I had been craving. I obviously recommend their food if you’re in the area — after all, as their website states, “Hudson Curry House is the place to go for Indian food in the region” — but what I really recommend is becoming a regular at a restaurant when you’re new in town. Nothing cures homesickness like having a familiar face smile at you and ask, “The usual?”
Two and a half years in, I couldn’t be happier living in the Hudson Valley. I still miss my friends in the city, but they come up to visit often, and I’ve found a community of people up here that have welcomed my husband and me with so much warmth.
That community has helped me settle in more than anything, but the warmth of a dinner from Hudson Curry House? That’s a close second.
Name drops: Hudson Curry House
A special thank you to this week’s illustrator, Jack X. Zhou2. See more of his work here.
Tom Vellner is a writer, editor, and Cheez-It connoisseur in the Hudson Valley. He works as an editorial manager for the ACLU and has written for BuzzFeed, VICE, Thrillist, and more.
Jack X. Zhou is an evil, formidable, enigmatic yet super cute and silly internationally tolerated award winning ILLUSTRATOR/DESIGNER/MAGICIAN.
He grew up in Hangzhou, China and is currently based in Providence/Boston. He is insane and passionate toward eating/cooking good food and learning history, which he illustrates to heal, fortify and bring the broken world together.
From the Jojo Siwa quote to the fuck you burger king and as someone that is literally so scared of moving from a metro area, this made me laugh so much and warmed me!!!