In June, India banned the export of lentils to combat domestic shortages. The NY Times checks in today with a report of the ban’s impact on New York City’s Indian immigrant community. A choice excerpt:

“Some people might say, ‘Big deal, it’s just a bean,’ but to Indians, the lentil is our bread,” said G. L. Soni, who owns House of Spices, an Indian food distributor in Corona, Queens. “Many Indians are vegetarians, so it is their bread and milk and cheese and meat combined.”

The article also made me realize how underrepresented Jackson Heights is in our listings of Indian restaurants. For your reference, here’s the restaurants we’ve categorized as South Indian, and here’s the restaurants we’ve categorized as North Indian (there’s some overlap between the two).

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